Wildfire
by lizziestar
Summary: Sequel to 'Solar Flare'. Erin's finally out of Uncle Brian's clutches. Unfortunately, this means she must live with her cousin in Astoria, Oregon. Can Seth and Erin handle being apart? "Long distance relationships will kill you."
1. Goodbye Depressive Funk

"_Believe the tunnel can end. Believe your body can mend. Yeah, I know you can make it through 'cause I believe in you. So let's go put up a fight, let's go make everything all right. Go on and take a shot, go give it all you've got."- from Boys Like Girls 'Go'_

Erin's POV

It'd been about a week since I'd chased Seth from my house. I was in what my mother would call a 'depressive funk'. The darkness was my best friend. Sunlight was my worst enemy. Pain and misery were engulfing me. I didn't want to see anyone and I didn't particularly care if anyone wanted to see me.

I knew there was a way to make the grey cloud that was hanging over my head go away. All I had to do was talk to Seth. However, all I felt like doing was lying down on Scout's older sister's bed with all the lights out and the cover over my head.

I just couldn't bring myself to apologize. He'd been the one who had broken his promise. In my book, that was the worst thing that a person could possibly do. Still, I realized that I was being stupid. So, that was the reason I'd been moping for about a week.

I still couldn't figure if I felt worse that Seth broke his promise to me or that I was just lying in a bed, feeling miserable. That wasn't like me at all. It was like... I'd given up. I'd just lost the will to do anything. All of this over a stupid broken promise and a move two hours away. What was with me?

Apparently, I wasn't the only one fed up with my moping. "Okay, that's it, Erin!" Scout shouted at me. She unceremoniously ripped the cover off my head and shook me a little. "Open your eyes and seize the day!"

I was just going to ignore her. I wasn't in the mood for people or conversation. I just wanted to continue to wallow in my misery until I either died from starvation or slit my wrists out of frustration from the starvation thing taking too long. However, Scout hated being ignored.

Light poured into the room as she crossed over to the other side of the room and flipped the light switch. I shut my eyes tight. "It burns us!" I yelled, cracking a joke for the first time in what seemed like years. I thought Scout would want to hear it. Maybe she'd leave me alone.

Scout, however, didn't seem to find this the least bit funny. "It is almost two in the freaking afternoon." she informed me, sounding irritated. "My parents are worried about you and Faith burst into tears when you didn't turn up for breakfast again. She thinks you're dying."

I certainly didn't mean to make anyone worry about me. I was also highly upset that I had made poor, sweet, little Faith cry. It made me feel even worse than I already did.

"I feel like it." I said, putting a pillow over my face. I wasn't even joking. The whole thing was so painful. I felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest.

Scout ripped the pillow away from me, but it didn't do much. I still had my eyes closed. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." she ordered. "You're wasting away in here."

"Good." I muttered. I was not in the mood for her to try and make me feel happy. It wasn't going to work. I was sure that nothing would. It felt like a dementor had sucked all of the happiness out of me. My soul felt like a dark, frozen void.

"Why are you so upset?" she asked. I felt her sink down at the foot of the bed. "Seth only broke his promise to keep another one that he promised you a long time ago. He promised that he'd protect you. Remember?"

I felt a tear fall down my face. And then another. And then another. I rolled over to try to keep Scout from seeing. I nodded. Of course I remembered. One does not simply forget something like that.

"Then why are you upset?" she asked me, her voice soft. I knew she was just trying to help. She was just trying to be a good friend. It was classic Scout.

So, I answered her even though I didn't feel like forming words and having a conversation. "He's not here." I told her, more tears falling. That really was it. He had told me he'd always be there for me. So, why wasn't he here now? Why wasn't he breaking down the door to see me? Why wasn't he yelling at me for being so stupid?

She placed her hand on my leg. "Erin, you told him to leave you alone." she reminded me. "He wants to be here. He just doesn't think you want him here. So, he's respecting your wishes."

I opened my eyes and saw a tear clinging to the end of my nose. I wiped it away and closed my eyes again. "He ought to know that I didn't mean it." God, I didn't mean it. Okay, so maybe I did. But for, like, a few hours, not a week.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "There's a solution here." she said. I knew what she was getting at. "Get your butt out of bed and go find him."

"But-"

"Go get your man!" she yelled at me. "You can't let him go. He's the best thing that's ever happened to you."

I knew she was right. I also knew she was probably speaking from personal experience. I sighed and opened my eyes, sitting up slowly. "You're... right." I told her, causing her to smile smugly. "But, I can't do it now." There was something important that I needed to tend to first.

"What?" she asked me. "Erin, you can't wait. You have to go find him and talk to him right this instant." Actually, I really didn't. It didn't matter when I talked to Seth. I knew he'd always be waiting with open arms. He loved me too much.

I shook my head resolutely. "Scout, I've been lying in this bed for a week." I reminded her. "I need a shower. I feel so gross." I hadn't felt much like keeping up with personal hygiene whilst going through my 'depressive funk'.

She laughed, her face brightening. "You look gross too." she announced, getting up off the bed. She dug through my suitcase, which was in front of her closet, and tossed me some clothes. "Now, hurry up."

An hour later, I was showered, dressed, and feeling much better. My grey cloud was slowly dissipating. I could see a small ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. I'd go find Seth and then we'd get this whole mess sorted out. I knew everything would be cool.

"Go get 'im!" Scout called to me from her open kitchen window as I ran out the door and through her yard at lightning speed.

Oh, did I intend to.

**Hey guys. So, how'd you like the first chapter of 'Wildfire'? Okay, now remember, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I do own any character not in the books and this plot. I know that this chapter is shorter than usual. Sorry. I'll try to make them longer in the future. Catch you later.**


	2. Coming For You

"_Wake me up inside. Wake me up inside. Call my name and save me from the dark. Bid my blood to run before I come undone. Save me from the nothing I've become."-from Evanescence 'Bring Me To Life'_

Seth's POV

I wasn't one to be morbidly depressed. Even though Erin wasn't speaking to me, I tried to stay positive. I kept telling myself that it would only be a matter of time before she called or something. However, a little voice in my head kept saying, "She never wants to see you again."

I tried to ignore that stupid voice, but it kept getting louder and louder. I was actually beginning to believe it. It had been a whole week and I hadn't heard one word from her. What if she really never wanted to see me again? The uncertainty kept eating away at me until I had actually become depressed.

I spent my days and nights in my room coming out only for meals and to use the bathroom. It was so bad, I wasn't even arguing with Leah. I'd really fallen into a black hole despite my attempts to stay happy.

Mom had been worried about me, so she forced me to go to the beach to get some fresh air. "You need to clear your head. You can't live your whole life in your room." she had told me as she shoved me out the door.

So, I had done as my mother had asked. I had driven to the beach. I was standing near the water's edge, looking out into the vast nothingness in front of me. I was seeing without really seeing. I wasn't thinking either. Just staring.

Suddenly, something hit me in the head from behind. I didn't bother to turn around because, frankly, I didn't even care. I was content to just not move and stare at nothing until I felt Erin slip her small hand in mine and whisper to me that it was time to go home.

"Yo! Seth!" Collin. I supposed it was his turn to try and cheer me up. The guys had been taking it in turns to talk to me and make me feel better. I knew their hearts were in the right place.

"Seth!" Collin shouted in my ear. He was next to me now. "Why aren't you home? What are you doing out here?" He sounded flabbergasted. It was probably because he was shocked to see me out of the house.

"Mom wanted me to get fresh air." I said flatly. I didn't look at him when I spoke. I kept my eyes facing forward out at the horizon. I was still seeing without seeing.

I heard Collin slap his hand to his forehead. "Erin just left Scout's to go see you! She's probably at your house now. You've gotta get going if you want to catch her."

My heart soared. She was out looking for me like I originally thought she would. That doubtful voice in my head had been wrong. I'd been depressed for no reason. I should've known.

"I gotta go!" I shouted at Collin, running off towards my car. I jerked open the door, climbed in, slammed the door, and drove off without even bothering to buckle my seatbelt.

I was going as fast as I possibly could. I only paid attention to what was in front of me. Nothing was going to distract me from getting home to my wonderful Erin. Absolutely nothing.

Soon, I pulled into my driveway and quickly jumped out of the car. I ran up the porch steps and yanked the front door open. "Mom!" I hollered as I shut the door behind me.

Mom came running into the hallway. "What is it Seth?" she asked, looking worried. "Did something happen? What?"

"Is Erin here?" I asked her quickly. Somehow I already knew her answer though.

"She just left." Mom replied, smiling a little. "I told her that you went to the beach. She's probably back there looking for you." I figured. If she had been there, she would've come running the second she heard my voice.

I had probably passed her on the way and neither of us had been paying attention, both determined to get to the place where we believed we'd find who we were looking for.

"I better get going." I told Mom, my hand already turning the doorknob. "I don't want to miss her again."

"You'll find her." Mom said as I opened the door. "I know you will." She smiled at me and waved me off as I ran back towards the beach.

I was going to get to her. We were going to be just fine. Both of us would probably be a little embarrassed and flustered, but we'd work everything out like we always did.

_I'm coming, Erin. _I thought to myself. _I'm coming for you._

**I am so sorry everyone. I've had the biggest case of writer's block. That's why this chapter is pretty short. I've just been going through some things. I hope I can update more frequently from now on. Keep your fingers crossed.**


	3. No More Crying

"_So maybe it's true that I can't live without you. And maybe two is better than one. But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life and you've already got me coming undone. And I'm thinking two is better than one."- Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift 'Two Is Better Than One'_

Erin's POV

My heart was hammering in my chest. I was panicking now. I'd been searching for Seth for almost an hour and I hadn't found him. He wasn't at home, he wasn't at the beach, he wasn't at the Cullens', he wasn't anywhere. No, he had to be somewhere. But where was somewhere?

_Where are you? _The thought ran through my mind.

I took a deep breath. Maybe if I stopped trying to look for him and just walked around, I'd find him. It was so illogical that it made perfect sense. It was like looking for the TV remote. When you searched, you could never find it. When you stopped looking, you found it in the freezer or in some other ridiculous place.

I started walking in no particular direction. I tried to keep Seth off my mind. I thought of the new drawing I was working on. I thought of everything I could think of other than how I wished I could find Seth.

I didn't know how long I'd been walking, but I was ready to turn back. And then, suddenly, I was knocked down to the ground. The pavement scraped up my hands and put a hole in my jeans. Perfect. As if things weren't already bad enough already. Those were my favorite jeans.

I pulled myself off the ground, irritated. "Could you watch where you're going?" I rudely asked whoever the hell knocked me down. My eyes were on my scraped knee and dirty pants, so I had no idea who it was.

"Erin?" No, it couldn't be. There was no way. It just wasn't possible.

I looked up and found those familiar dark brown eyes. "Seth." My eyes widened. "I've been looking for you everywhere." I wanted to jump into his arms, but I held back.

"I've been looking for you too." he said, giving me a tentative half-smile. He also seemed to be holding back a bit.

I didn't know what to say to him. I'd had it all planned out in my head, but the second I looked at him it was all gone. I knew I had to find something to say. I couldn't just gape at him like an idiot all day.

"I'm sorry." I finally muttered, not meeting his eyes.

"What?" he asked, sounding confused. I lifted my head up to look at him and saw that his facial expression matched the tone in his voice. That made me confused.

"I'm sorry." I repeated, looking at him this time. Maybe he hadn't heard me was all. That had to be the reason he sounded so confused.

However, his expression didn't change at all. "Why?" he asked, still looking confused. "Why are you apologizing to me?"

"Because I was wrong." I said really slowly. If I was him I'd be doing an 'in your face' dance, not wondering why there was an apology.

He shook his head. "No. You weren't wrong." Was he nuts? I had been totally wrong. I had screwed up big time. I'd chased him off. I'd gotten mad at him over absolutely nothing.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, even more confused than he had been about my apology. "What do you mean that I wasn't wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "You had a right to be mad at me. I broke a promise to you. I broke your trust." He paused for a moment, just looking at me, and then he said, "But, I had to break that promise to you. I had to save you. You could've been killed. Then where would I be?" He shrugged his shoulders.

I bit my lip, thinking about what he meant. "So..." I started off slowly. "What you're saying is neither of us was wrong? We were both right?"

A smile broke across his face. "That's exactly what I'm saying." He stretched out his arms and wrapped me into a hug. It felt so right.

"Finally." I muttered causing Seth to chuckle. I'd missed that sound. Actually, I missed everything. Being a non-existing entity for a week was extremely tiring oddly enough.

"I'm glad to be back." Seth whispered in my ear. Apparently someone else had been a nothing for the last week too. That definitely was not healthy. I had to do something about that.

"Seth?" I asked, craning my neck back so I could see his face. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be deep in thought although he probably wasn't.

"Hmm?" he responded, letting me know that he was listening to me.

"Let's make each other a promise." I began. I had to make sure the two of us would never be nothings again. I mean, I was going to be moving away in mid-January. The two of us just couldn't stop functioning.

"What kind of promise?" he mumbled into my ear, his warm breath tickling me and making me feel like a giggly teenage girl. (Something I definitely was not.)

"A promise that, no matter what, we won't become empty shells of nothing." I told him. "This past week, I basically stopped living. I don't want that to happen again. To me or to you."

Seth sighed and nodded. "Okay. I promise that when you move, I'll stay happy and... active. I won't turn into a zombie. If I start getting sad, I'll call or come and see you."

I smiled, feeling a whole lot better. "And I'll keep reminding myself that you'll come and see me. I'll call you and even send drawings to you through the snail mail."

Seth chuckled and held out his pinky. "You have to pinky promise." he told me. "Otherwise the promise can be broken."

I hooked my pinky with his as I said, "Pinky promise. May God smite me if I break this promise."

"And I as well." Seth said, hugging me even tighter and closer to him.

_And now everything is right with the world._

**Sorry I've been gone for so long guys. Things have been getting in the way lately. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Updating soon. Hopefully.**


	4. Just Breathe

"_I can feel you breathe. It's washing over me and suddenly I'm melting into you. There's nothing left to prove, baby all we need is just to be. Caught up in the touch, the slow and steady rush. Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be? I can feel you breathe. Just breathe."- from Faith Hill 'Breathe'_

Seth's POV

Erin and I spent every waking second together before she had to leave. We didn't like talking about it, but there were occasional periods where neither of us spoke and we knew we were both thinking about what would come mid January.

It wasn't that I didn't think we could make it through the distance. It was mainly the fact that there had to be distance. I'd have to go weeks at a time without seeing her. The only thing that would keep me sane would be hearing her voice every single day on the phone.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. You think it can't be that bad. You think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. Well, maybe I am, but wouldn't you do the same thing if you were in love?

On one of these days in Erin's last month or so in Forks, we decided to take a long walk. The December wind was chilly, but neither of us minded. Little snowflakes began drifting towards the Earth. Maybe we'd have a white Christmas.

I looked at Erin, the snowflakes shimmering in her hair, and smiled. Her cheeks were pink and she had a childlike sparkle in her green eyes as she tossed her head back to catch snowflakes on her tongue.

I chuckled and joined her for a moment. When we finally finished catching the fallen bits of snow, she slipped a gloved hand in mine and began skipping.

"Someone's sure acting girly and giggly today." I teased her, smiling.

She stopped skipping and punched me lightly. "Oh, come on. It's Christmastime. I'm not acting girly. I'm acting like a little kid. There's a difference."

"Well, pardon me." I said in a voice filled with mock shame. I began swinging our entwined arms back and forth as we walked along together.

We had no particular destination in mind. We walked past the beach, past the Cullens', and back around again. We were just two bored kids with nothing to do and nowhere to go. We just wanted to spend time together.

"So..." I began, trying to think of something we could do. "Anything special you want to do? We could head back to the house or go sledding down that big hill behind Brady's house or whatever. It's what you want."

She frowned and turned her head towards the sky. She was silent for a long time as she thought of what she most wanted to do. Her answer, when she finally turned to me, surprised me.

"Can you... turn into a wolf and just sit with me?" she asked, her voice quiet and small. It was as if she was almost certain that I'd outright tell her no or else try to talk her out of it.

"Why?" I asked, not thinking it was a very fun thing to do myself. I couldn't imagine why she was asking. However, if she really wanted to, I would.

She shrugged, looking at the ground instead of me. "I don't know." she mumbled softly, as if she didn't really want me to hear. "I just... I'm getting ready to move. I haven't seen you as a wolf in a while. I dunno... I guess... I like seeing you that way or I feel safer or... I dunno."

I didn't know how to reply, so I looked around to make sure we were alone and ran for the woods. I could hear her trail after me as I phased. Once a wolf, I turned around and bounded at her, knocking her over with delight.

She chuckled as she stood up and patted me on the head. I ran to a huge tree nearby and curled up at the base. Erin sat down and leaned on me, scratching me and petting me absentmindedly.

The world was quiet. Even with my super wolf hearing, all I could hear was the sound of Erin breathing, her heartbeat, my own breath and heartbeat, and... the thoughts that I didn't want to hear because they spoke the awful truth.

_She's leaving in a little over a month._

_You'll barely see her._

_You'll go insane._

_This is most definitely not going to end well for either of you._

"We'll be all right, Seth." Erin muttered, rubbing my neck. "You don't need to worry about anything. Neither do I."

I looked around me at all the snow and the grey and the dark. There was a small sliver of sunlight bursting through the many tree branches that created a canopy over the two of us.

I knew she was right. We would both be okay in the end. My mind could be at peace for once. There was no need for worry. Erin and I really would without a doubt be absolutely fine.

_And why in the name of God's green Earth shouldn't we be?_

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I've been busy, sick, and just plain lazy. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, but no promises. Oh, sorry this is kind of short and boring. My next few chapters might be actually. I'm working on it.**


	5. Greatest Time Of Year

"_It's the greatest time of year and it's here. Help me celebrate it with everybody here, friends so dear. Let me simply state it. Joy to the world and everyone. Lift up your hearts and feel the love. It's our favorite way to spend the holiday."- from Aly & AJ 'Greatest Time of Year'_

Erin's POV

You know how when you're little it seems to take forever for Christmas to finally come? Well, for me it came all too soon. I had been dreading it since I'd been taken away from Brian. Christmas meant only three weeks until I had to move back to Astoria and leave Seth behind.

I was to have three Christmases: One with Scout and her family, one with Seth and his family, and one with the Cullens. I knew it would be fun, but the thought of Christmas coming was still depressing.

On the morning of the twenty fourth, Faith bounded into Scout's room, waking me, Maycee (She was in from college for winter break.), and Scout. "It's Christmas! It's Christmas! There's no time for sleep! It's Christmas!" She ran out, still shouting about her favorite holiday.

We spent the majority of the day cooking, cleaning, playing, and chasing Faith around the house, trying to calm the kid down. It was actually pretty fun and I managed to forget January and my move for a while. It was like I wasn't leaving at all. It was like I could live with the Barlows forever.

Just as we had finished opening presents, Seth walked into the living room. I could no longer pretend I wasn't leaving him. Even if we didn't speak of it and tried to ignore it, there was a certain sadness that clung to the both of us. It enveloped us and wouldn't let go until it took over.

He smirked when he saw me surrounded by all of my presents. They were mostly Harry Potter things like a Hufflepuff scarf and some of the candy: Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavor Beans, and Acid Pops to name a few.

"'Chuck us a Frog.'" he chuckled, quoting Ron Weasley. I smiled, tossing him one. He caught it and ripped it open with his teeth just as Ron would. Seth and Ron were actually very similar in personality now that I thought on it. Although, Seth wasn't as clueless as Ron could be.

"Ready?" I asked, standing up. I knew Faith would volunteer to take my stuff back to Scout and Maycee's room for me.

"Have fun!" Mrs. Barlow called as we headed out the door.

I was greeted with a warm welcome by all of Seth's family Jacob and Billy were there too. There were quite a few presents under the tree including the one I had placed there for Seth the previous day.

Seth opened my present first. "Cool." he said, holding it up for everyone to see. It was a bookmark that I made. I'd drawn the scene where Harry fought dementors in the third book. "That's my favorite scene." That had been the idea. "Open the one from me next."

I picked up a small box wrapped in silver paper. It had to be jewelry. It was too small to be anything else. I delicately unwrapped the paper and Jacob let out a dramatic groan. I slowly and carefully took the lid off the box.

Nestled inside some tissue paper was a silver locket in the shape of a heart. Engraved in the front were my initials in elegant cursive: E. A. M. I opened the locket carefully. Inside were two tiny pictures, one on each side, one of me and one of Seth.

A few tears rolled down my face. "It's amazing." I whispered, reaching out to him and wrapping my arms around his neck. "I love it."

He wrapped his arms around me and whispered back, "You have no idea the torture I went through to get that for you."

Leah snorted from her seat on the couch. "Torture? Please, I practically threw the thing at him when he asked for it. Sam gave it to me a long time ago. I've been trying to rid myself of the thing."

Seth pulled away from me and rolled his eyes at his sister. "I meant the torture to get it engraved and to make the pictures small enough to fit inside." Oh, dear. My boyfriend was a total goob.

"Ahem." Sue coughed from next to Leah. "I believe I was the one who went through the torture." she joked. "First, you nagged me for days until I agreed and then I had to part with a lot of money that I couldn't used to feed you and the other growing wildebeests- I mean boys." Everyone laughed at that.

"Hey, can I open my presents now?" Jacob asked, sounding like a five year old. No, that's mean to five year olds. More like a... well, a Jacob.

"Who said you got any?" Billy asked.

"Yeah." Charlie agreed. "You ate your weight in my mashed potatoes. That was your present."

The arguing, teasing, laughing a present opening continued until almost midnight. It was nice to know that I could stay out that late and not be beaten to death for doing so. I supposed my moving wasn't all bad after all. At least I'd be safe from harm.

Right before Seth left me on the Barlows' front porch, he leaned down to kiss me. It was a little rougher and longer than usual. I figured he was thinking about my move. I kissed him back just as hard as the horrid thought popped into my head too.

When we pulled apart, he breathlessly whispered, "Night, Erin. I love you. Glad you had a nice time. Glad you liked my present." He fingered the charm hanging around my neck carefully.

I smiled up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow up at the Cullens." I promised him. "I have another present for you. I'm sure you'll love it." I'd been working with Edward on 'Ode To Joy' for ages and I finally got it down pat.

He bit his lip. "No chance of getting what it is out of you, is there?" he asked, his eyes hopeful. He looked like a child. He looked happy.

I shook my head and heaved a sigh, turning the doorknob slowly. "Night." I told him, walking into Scout's house and shutting the door behind me. Maybe Christmas wasn't so bad after all.

**Sorry that was so short. As I was typing, my dad yelled at me to get off the computer so I had to cut it short. It might be longer next time. No promises**.


	6. Ode To Joy

"_We can get all cozy by the fire. Turn the music up a little higher. I don't think that I could ever tire of being together. Decorate the tree, hang mistletoe, and stand by me. It's a picture perfect moment captured, memories that we'll have after."- from Aly & AJ 'Greatest Time Of Year'_

Seth's POV

Erin and I had a pretty good day with the Cullens. We sat around and talked and laughed, we helped Esme and Edward cook, we ate, and we watched as everyone danced while Edward played the piano.

It was highly enjoyable and relaxing. It was nothing like a Christmas with the pack which was always loud and noisy and full of fighting. It was peaceful and quiet and merry like the holidays are supposed to be.

Presents weren't a big fight either. They were all opened simultaneously. The only sounds were wrapping paper being ripped open, gasps, and exclamations of thanks and appreciation to the giver of the gift. There was no yelling or teasing whatsoever.

As I opened my presents, I looked around the room. Alice had done a magnificent job decorating. The tree was real and decorated with ornaments that looked like snowflakes and stars. Lights twinkled everywhere and snowmen could be found resting on end tables. It was spectacular.

"Seth?" Erin asked, from beside me. I looked up at her and saw a mischievous grin spread across her face.

"What?" I asked, wondering if she was ready to give me this wonderful, amazing, totally cool present that she had been gushing about for weeks. It was enough to make a guy curious.

"Are you ready for your present?" she asked, smiling. Her green eyes were shining brighter than any of the lights that Alice had put up throughout the entire house. She was as beautiful as a Christmas angel. What? The holidays make me a little sappy.

"I don't know." I said, standing up and watching as the wrapping paper that had been in my lap floated down to the ground. "You tell me."

She smirked and grabbed my hand, leading me away from the tree. I heard everyone get up and start following us. Something told me that they were in on whatever this little surprise was.

Erin took me over to Edward's piano and sat down on the bench. She motioned for me to sit next to her, so I did.

"What is this all about?" I asked, warily looking around at everyone.

Nessie shook her head and gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, come on. It's so obvious, Seth. Erin's going to play a song for you."

I looked at her in shock. "You play?" I asked, thunderstruck.

She shrugged modestly. "I guess you're just going to have to find that one out for yourself." She looked up at Edward who winked at her. For the first time, I saw Erin actually look nervous.

"Go on, dear." Esme said, leaning into Carlisle who was grinning proudly at Erin. "I've been listening. We all have. You're really good, Erin. I know he'll love it. There's no reason that you should be nervous."

Bella, Alice, and even Rosalie smiled at her warmly. They seemed to be silently telling her that Esme was absolutely right. They were also silently telling ter that she had nothing to fear.

"Come on." Emmett urged her. "What have you got to lose, kid? It doesn't matter if you suck. Seth'll think it's amazing either way."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Way to help, Emmett."

"Just doin' what I do."

Erin took a deep breath and set her fingers down lightly on the keys. I heard her play the first few notes to 'Ode To Joy' and my heart melted. Her fingers skillfully played every single note with the utmost perfection. It was the most beautiful thing I ever heard or saw. You could see the immense concentration on her face.

When she was finished, everyone applauded and Emmett even wolf whistled. Erin gave her spectacular, confident smile. She was glad everyone thought she was good, but I knew what she was really waiting for.

"That was..." Words couldn't describe how wonderful I thought that was. "Terrific, amazing, spectacular, stupendous, breathtaking, brilliant..." I didn't know what else to tell her.

She chuckled, her cheeks turning a little pink. "You think so?" she asked. "I mean, I thought it was fine. You know, nothing special."

"That's not what Seth thinks." Edward assured her. I figured he had been the one who taught her. I think the smug look on his face as she played gave it away. "Trust me, he thinks it was something special, magnificent, angelic, and on, and on, and on."

Everyone laughed while I made a face at them. "Well, it was. Don't tell me you didn't think so too." They all agreed with me wholeheartedly. "That's what I thought."

Alice sighed, walking slowly over towards Erin. "I wish you all the luck in the world with that boy." she said, giving her a hug. "You will definitely need it." Couldn't she ever leave me be?

I stood up, deciding that I wanted to be alone with Erin for awhile. "Come on, Erin. I want to talk to you alone."

She rose off the bench and followed me into the kitchen. She grasped my hand and trailed behind me, not saying a word. That struck me as odd. She usually asked me where I was taking her.

Once in the kitchen, I turned to her. "Phew. I never thought I'd get to spend any time alone with you tonight."

She stood on her tiptoes and beckoned me to lean down. "You do know that they're probably eavesdropping on us, right?" she whispered in my ear.

"Yeah." I told her. "Which is why we aren't going to be doing any talking." With that said, I took my dazzling imprint in my arms and kissed her with all that I had in me.

She leaned back and wrapped her arms around my neck. Her lips were soft and warm under mine. I couldn't have asked for anything more wonderful for Christmas than the love of this beautiful girl.

"Whoo." Emmett called, causing the two of us to break apart. The whole Cullen family was standing right in front of us, watching the private moment. "It's getting a little hot up in this kitchen."

Erin blushed and started muttering under her breath causing Emmett to laugh at us some more.

Nessie gave a huge grin and waved a camera that she'd been concealing behind her back. "This one'll be going right into my scrapbook, thank you very much."

"Nessie!" I yelled, running after her, trying to yank the camera out of her hands. "Get back here!"

She ran back into the living room, trying to dodge me. "Oh, no you don't!" she shrieked, jumping over the couch.

That was how my 'peaceful' Christmas ended. I chased Nessie around the house for the rest of the night while everyone followed us, laughing, taking pictures, and making a video of my sheer stupidity. It really was a perfect first Christmas with Erin.

**Sorry that I haven't updated in forever you guys. I'm not quitting this story. I just sometimes forget. I do have a lot of things to do. I will try to update sooner. I know I say that all the time. Maybe this time I really will.**


	7. Moving Day

"_When all you gotta keep is strong, move along, move along like I know you do. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through." -from The All-American Rejects 'Move Along'_

Erin's POV

Moving day dawned bright and early one cold, January morning. To avoid it, I lied awake in bed for two extra hours. Scout seemed to be doing the same thing because her snoring had ceased, but her eyes were closed when I looked over at her.

Soon, the horrible event could not be avoided any longer. Scout and I began packing up the few things I had left with me. The rest was already back home in Astoria because the Cullens generously paid for the moving van which had already came and gone with the majority of my belongings.

Once I was packed, all that was left to do was wait for Mari to come and get me and take me away from my friends and Seth. Scout and I sat in the living room on the couch and stared at the wall.

An hour later, little Faith cautiously walked in and sat down in between the two of us and joined in as we looked relentlessly at the wall. She was just as upset as Scout and I were. She didn't want me to leave either.

"Trying to burn a hole in the wall?" Scout's dad asked, walking in to check on us. He looked at me, sadly. "What time's your cousin coming, Erin?"

I sighed and took a look at the clock on the TV. "Uh... she should be here anytime now, Mr. Barlow." I replied glumly.

"Why does she have to leave, Daddy?" Faith asked her father in a small voice. "Can't she just live here? Maycee can stay in my room when she comes in from college. I won't mind."

"Oh, that's really sweet." I told her, smiling. "I couldn't ask you to give up your room though. My cousin's really lonely. She needs me to stay with her for a little while. I'll come back to visit a lot though. Real soon. I promise."

She crawled into my lap and hugged me. "I love you, Erin." she said, sounding on the verge of tears.

"I love you too." I told her, patting her on the back. "I always wanted a little sister just like you when I was growing up."

"You promise you'll visit?"

"Of course."

"A lot?"

"Every chance I get."

There suddenly came a knock on the door. I knew Mrs. Barlow would answer it. She'd been sitting in the kitchen all day, nervously awaiting the arrival of my cousin. I knew she didn't want me to go either.

"She's in the living room." I heard Mrs. Barlow tell whoever had been at the door.

Faith scooted off my lap and I stood up, not prepared to leave at all. I bent down to grab my bags. As I straightened up, I saw that it wasn't Mari who came. It was Seth. He was standing there next to Mr. Barlow.

"You came?" I asked softly.

"Of course." he said, smiling at me. "Why wouldn't I come see you off?"

"I thought it'd be too sad." I answered, setting my stuff back down on the floor.

"Well, it will be, but I'd rather be sad as I watch you leave then sad as I sit in my room wishing that I'd come to see you off."

"Come on, Faith." Mr. Barlow said, motioning to his small daughter. "Let's leave the big kids alone for a while."

She heaved a sigh. "I never get to watch anything." she pouted as she followed her father out of the living room.

Seth walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. "God, I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Scout agreed, wrapping her arms around the two of us, making it a group hug.

I don't know how long we stood there like that. All too soon, Mrs. Barlow walked into the living room and announced that Mari was standing outside along with a small party of people who wanted to say goodbye.

I picked up my stuff and headed out of the house with Seth and Scout following closely and silently behind me. This was it. It was time to hit the open road. Two hours and I'd be in my old house in my hometown.

Mrs. Barlow had been exaggerating when she said it was a small party of people that were there to see me off.

Mari was there with Kendra. When I saw my best friend, I immediately ran over to her and hugged her tight. I'd missed her a lot. I then hugged my cousin. Her long, blonde hair stuck to my coat when I pulled away and I made a joke about her shedding.

Brady was there. I wondered if he knew Kendra was coming. After I gave Kendra another hug, he walked over to me and awkwardly patted my shoulder. I chuckled, pulling the idiot into a real hug.

Billy was sitting there in his wheelchair, smiling at me. I went over and hugged him too. "Take care, kid." he whispered in my ear.

Charlie, Sue, and Leah were there too. Leah gave me a smile and told me to take care, Charlie patted my shoulder, and Sue gave me a big hug, her eyes swimming with tears.

Jacob and Nessie were also there. I'd already said my goodbyes to the Cullens the day before since they couldn't come to La Push to see me off. They both gave me hugs and told me they'd miss me.

Quil was there, holding little Claire in his arms. I gave them hugs too and Claire burst into tears. She was another one that wanted me to stay forever.

Sam and Emily were next to give me hugs. They told me to take care of myself and to stay out of trouble and said that I was a good kid. I promised them I'd be super careful.

Embry, of course, didn't give me a hug. However, he did have something to say. "Don't forget about us down here, okay. Pop by anytime you feel like it."

I laughed. "I'll miss you too, Embry." I assured him.

He smiled and punched me lightly on the shoulder. "Good. We never did get a rematch on that football game."

"You're so on when I come back to visit." I told him. "I just hope you're prepared for another butt whipping."

"Yeah, in your dreams maybe."

I gave Scout's family hugs too. Mat said hugs were for girls, but he excepted one anyway. Faith cried a little and so did Scout. Mr. and Mrs. Barlow said I was welcome to stay anytime I wanted. Mallory told me she miss me a lot, especially my advice.

Finally, I had only one goodbye to make.

I turned to Seth, tears in my eyes. "I'm going to miss you so much." I told him, hugging him tightly, breathing in his woodsy scent. "I'll call everyday."

"Don't worry about me." he told me, resting his chin on top of my head. "It's not really goodbye after all. I'll see you real soon."

I pulled away from him and headed to Mari's car. He ran after me and took my bag. "Let me get that."

Mari popped open the trunk and Seth set my stuff carefully inside and then shut the door. "There you are." he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you when I get there."

"Promise?" he asked, pulling out his hands and extending his pinky.

"Pinky promise." I told him, hooking pinkies with him and laughing.

"Come on, Scout." Mari told me as Kendra jumped in the back seat after saying goodbye to Brady.

Seth gave me one last hug and I climbed in next to Kendra, waving my last goodbye to all the people I cared about as we pulled away from the curb and took off.

"You never told me you had that many friends." Mari said, smiling. "They all seem like such nice people."

"They are." Kendra and I said at the same time causing us to laugh.

"So, that boy you were hugging, was that Seth?" she asked me. When I nodded, she smiled. "He was really cute, wasn't he?"

"Seth?" I asked. "Yeah, cute's one way to describe him." I leaned back in my seat and sighed as I turned my head towards the window.

"Like the car?" Mari asked me, trying to keep up a conversation.

"Uh huh." I replied. Truth was, I hadn't even glanced at the thing. I was too upset about leaving to really care about what I was leaving in.

"Good." she told me, smiling again. "It's yours as soon as you get your license."

"Oh, cool." I told her, not really caring.

"Yeah, you know your parents left you all the money they had." That was something I never mentioned to anyone back in Forks. My family was... well, not rich exactly. More... well off. "They left specific instructions to your guardian to take some of that money to buy you a car when you got your license." Brian never told me that. He probably would've used that money to buy beer or some other crap.

"You're in for a big surprise when you get back home." Mari went on. "Right, Kendra?"

"Mhmm." Kendra said. "Several big surprises actually." She didn't sound like someone who thought these were very nice surprises.

"I think I'm going to sleep a while." I told Mari, leaning my head against the window. "I'm really tired."

"Well, okay." she told me. "If you're sure."

"I am." I told her, closing my eyes. I fell asleep quickly, dreaming of Seth and all of my friends back in Washington.

**Wow. An update that's not a month after I put up my last chapter. Cool.**


	8. Gone

"_When you're gone, the pieces of my heart are missing you. When you're gone, the face I came to know is missing too. When you're gone, all the words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it okay: I miss you." -from Avril Lavigne 'When You're Gone'_

Seth's POV

I watched as Erin drove away with her cousin and Kendra, trying not to cry in front of everyone. Believe me, it was the single most difficult thing I'd ever done. Okay, second most difficult. The most difficult thing had been telling Charlie that Erin was being abused in the first place.

"All right everyone." Mom said to the crowd that was still gathered around the Barlows' house. "I think we can all go about our normal business considering that we can no longer see the car."

It had been a nice car too. Why hadn't Erin ever told me that she could actually afford things like that? Well, it was her business anyway. I had to respect that. It didn't matter anyway. She was still the same girl.

"Seth, you okay?" I turned around to see Brady watching me. No one else seemed to be around. They must have all left without me noticing. I was pretty distraught.

"No." I told him truthfully.

"You know you did the right thing by telling Charlie about her uncle." he said, walking closer to me. "She might not be here right now if you didn't. I mean, she's not here now. I mean, in this world. She is though. Because of you. Ugh. I'm an idiot."

"Yeah." I told him, laughing at him. I heaved a sigh. "So, did you even talk to Kendra at all?" I wanted to take the conversation away from me and Erin.

"Uh... no." Brady said, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets and staring down at the ground. "No, I didn't."

"Really?" I asked, curiously. "Why not? I thought you'd be visiting her in Astoria for a couple months. Thought you even got her a Christmas and birthday present."

"Yeah." he muttered. "But... uh... she has a boyfriend."

"Wait, you told her you liked her?"

"Oh, God no. I'm not that stupid, Seth." he told me, shaking his head. "No. She just mentioned him. We were talking about Erin moving back there and she said she hadn't told her what was really going on. She didn't tell her she got a boyfriend or that their friends, Jamie and Dylan, have changed a lot."

"Oh." I said sympathetically. "That's too bad, Brady."

"Yeah." he muttered sadly. "At least she doesn't seem to think I'm weird or annoying or creepy."

"That's because she hasn't gotten to really know you yet." I joked.

"Oh, that's it, Clearwater." Brady said, lunging at me.

We started wrestling around on the ground and I started laughing. "That all you got Stone?" I teased him. "Oh, come on. My grandmother can do better than that."

"Ahem. Boys."

We stopped fighting and looked up to see Mrs. Underwood staring down at us with a bag of groceries in her hands. "Busy?" she asked, smiling down at us.

We stood up and dusted ourselves off, feeling slightly ashamed that we were acting like a couple of idiots. "Sorry ma'am." we chorused, looking down at the ground like the bad kids we were.

"Did I miss Erin leaving?" she asked, sitting her bag down on the side of the road.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, she left about a half hour ago."

She gave a soft, sad smile. "Oh, I wanted to come and see her off. She was a real good kid and I'll miss her."

"Yeah." I told her. "Me too."

"Your mother told me what had been going on." she informed me. "You did a wonderful thing for her, Seth. She wasn't safe there."

"No." I said, shaking my head. "No she certainly wasn't."

"Well, next time you speak with her, you tell her I said hello." she said, bending over to pick up her bag.

"Hold on, Mrs. Underwood." I told her. "I'll take that for you. I'm sure you can find something for Brady to do too."

The old woman smiled. "I'm sure I can too."

Brady and I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening helping Mrs. Underwood around her house. We also tried to keep our minds off our imprints. Easier said than done.

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys. I meant to so many times but things got in the way. I got a lot of homework, I decided to learn the saxophone, I had band stuff to do, the internet decided to be stupid, and I got a little sick. I'll get another chapter up soon. Oh, sorry it was so short. I'll make up for it soon. You'll see.**


	9. Home Sweet Home?

"_Homecoming, I'm coming. I'm coming back."- from Hey Monday 'Homecoming'_

Erin's POV

"Home sweet home." Mari announced as we walked straight to the front door of my old house. The outside was just as beautiful as I remembered.

It was so weird to be back. When I left, I never imagined I'd walk through the front door again. I didn't know how I felt about it since everything was so different. I didn't know if I should cry or not.

"Come on." Kendra said, pulling open the door and stepping inside. She sounded... irritated over something.

I followed in behind her and, for a split second, was surprised with how clean the house was. I'd forgotten that Mari had been living in the house for about a year by herself.

"You thirsty?" Mari asked me, grabbing me by the arm before I headed up the stairs to my room.

"Uh... not particularly." I really wanted to go up to my room and call Seth. I had promised that I'd call as soon as I got in.

"Oh, nonsense." Mari said, trying to drag me away from the stairs. "You must be thirsty after that long drive. Or hungry."

I sighed, deciding to let her take me into the kitchen. I guess she was trying to be motherly or something. It was a little odd considering she was my cousin, but if it made her happy to act like a mom then who was I to crush her happiness?

Stepping into the kitchen, I was met with a large purple banner that said 'Welcome Home, Erin' and Jamie and Dylan standing under it, shouting "Surprise! Welcome home, Erin!"

"Oh my God." I said, dropping my luggage in the floor. "You guys did all of this for me?"

"Of course." Dylan said, walking over to me. He flashed a gorgeous smile and held out his arms. "Come on. Give your old buddy a hug."

I laughed, walking into his arms for a friendly hug. "Man, you're a lot bigger than I remember, Dylan." I said, giggling. When we were kids he had been so scrawny.

"Yeah?" he asked, pulling away and flexing his right arm. "I've been working out a lot lately."

Jamie rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Really, bro? You call changing channels with the remote working out?"

"Hey, hey." Mari said authoritatively. "No bickering. I'm sure Erin doesn't want to stand here and listen to the two of you gripe all day."

"Sorry." Jamie said quickly. She flashed a perfectly white smile. It was a smile that had won her many beauty pageants as a kid. She'd always been the pretty, girly one whereas I had always been the decent looking, tomboy.

I took a good look at her and her twin brother as they stood next to each other. They hadn't changed must since I last saw them. They looked older, but they still had the same blonde hair, the same good looks, and the same goofy attitudes.

I saw Kendra roll her eyes at Jamie in the corner of the kitchen near the stove. I wondered why. As kids, I knew Kendra and Jamie didn't usually get along, but they never seemed to outright hate each other.

"I thought you all had another surprise for Erin." Mari said, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a two liter of Sprite.

Jamie clapped her hands together. "Oh my God. I cannot believe we forgot. We are so stupid, aren't we Dylan?" She ran her fingers through her long hair and glanced at her brother.

"Yeah." Dylan said. When Jamie turned her head away from him, he gave her the same look Kendra had moments before.

"So, you have got to come over to my house in a couple hours for a huge party I'm throwing for you." Jamie said, smiling brightly.

"A party for me?" I asked. Oh no. I should've known. Another brilliant idea of Jamie's. "I... don't know what to say."

"Just say 'Thanks, Jamie', silly."

"Uh... thanks, Jamie." I told her, catching Kendra's eyes. She gave a sympathetic head shake. "I... really appreciate that."

"Good." she said, digging in her big black pocket book that was sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen. She pulled out her car keys and dangled them in front of my face. "Now to go shopping for you a new outfit."

"Oh, you don't have to." I told her, glancing towards the hallway. I just wanted to run up the stairs to my old room and flop down on my bed and call Seth.

"Nonsense." she said, flashing another smile. "It's my present to you. Everyone else is giving you your presents at the party."

"Presents?" Oh no. Why did Jamie always insist on putting me in the spotlight? I wasn't like her. I hated attention.

"Naturally." she told me, grabbing me by the hand. "What kind of party would it be without gifts?"

"Is Kendra coming with us?" I asked, turning my head back to my best friend.

Jamie looked at her too, frowning. "I... suppose if you really want her to. It's just, I kind of wanted this to be just me and you. You got to spend the whole ride up here with Kendra. I haven't gotten to talk to you in forever."

"You know, you two can go on." Kendra said quickly. "I... uh... have to go meet Drew anyway. He still needs help finding a gift."

"Drew?" I asked, wrenching out of Jamie's grip.

"Yeah." Kendra told me, smiling softly. "Drew Cantly. My boyfriend. You remember him, right?"

I nodded, vaguely remember giving the kid a wedgie for telling me I couldn't play football with the boys. "You never told me you were dating him." Poor Brady. I wondered if he knew.

"Yeah..." she said, looking guilty. "Didn't know how to mention it with everything that was going on with you."

"Well, come on." Jamie said, tugging on my arm. "We better get going if we want to get back in time."

"Have fun." Dylan called out to me as Jamie dragged me towards the front door.

Things had sure changed since I'd left. What other surprises was I in store for?

**Another chapter, finished. If you want to see what Jamie and Dylan look like, look on my profile. I've posted a link to a picture of them. Sorry this chapter is a wee bit short. It's longer than the last one though. I'll update as soon as I can with a nice long chapter.**


	10. Cold Nostalgia

"_I'll watch the night turn light blue but it's not the same without you because it takes two to whisper quietly. The silence isn't so bad 'til I look at my hands and feel sad 'cause the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly."- from 'Vanilla Twilight' by Owl City_

Seth's POV

I'd been lying on my bed for hours waiting on Erin to call. The sun had gone down but I refused to get up to turn on a light. The phone laid on my chest, moving up and down as I breathed.

I was so worried about her. Surely she had gotten home hours ago. She had promised she'd call me as soon as they arrived in Astoria.

She was fine. She was hanging with her friends. They hadn't seen each other in a long time. They were probably catching up. Calling me probably hadn't slipped her mind, but she surely was trying to keep from being rude.

As I was imagining all the fun Erin was having, my door creaked open and light flooded into the room. "Aww, Mom." I moaned, squinting. My eyes weren't used to light. I'd been in the darkness for around three hours or more.

"Sorry, sorry." Mom said, picking her way through the dirty clothes in the floor to get over to my bed. "I just wanted to know what you wanted for dinner. Pizza sound okay?"

"Yeah, fine." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Okay, sweetie." Mom said, bending down to ruffle my hair. "Look, she'll call. Don't worry." She smiled at me in that gentle Mom way.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I know."

She sank down on the edge of my bed. "She's just getting settled in. It takes a little while. She's gotta set up her room and her old friends probably want to visit her, you know."

I nodded again. "Yeah, Mom. That's all it is." I really understood that. I knew she'd call the second she could. I knew she was fine.

Mom smiled at me again. "I am so proud of you, you know that?" she asked me. "You did the right thing when you told Charlie what was going on with Erin. Your Dad would've been proud too." A tear trickled down her cheek.

"Oh, Mom." I said, sitting up, the phone falling onto the bed. I wrapped my arms around her in a hug. "It's okay. I miss him too."

She took a huge breath. "I know, sweetheart. It's just been so hard. I still can't believe he's gone." She hugged me really tight and rested her chin on the top of my head. "If it wasn't for Charlie... God, I don't know what I'd do."

We sat there for a while, hugging each other. Mom cried a lot. I couldn't cry about Dad. I didn't even cry during the funeral. I don't know why. I just couldn't. I never told Erin because I knew she'd try to shrink me. She was well on her way to following in her mother's footsteps.

"So, pizza then?" Mom asked, laughing and pulling away from me.

I smiled. That was my mom. She always had to be so together. If she wasn't, she'd try and make herself be together. "Pizza sounds great, Mom."

She nodded and got up. "I'll call you when it comes then. Pepperoni, extra cheese, and mushrooms."

"Right."

She turned out my light and softly shut the door, leaving me alone. I could've sworn I heard her humming some country song that my dad loved as she headed into the kitchen.

I stared at the phone, thinking of my parents. I knew Erin and I would be like they were one day. I knew how Mom felt. We both missed the one we loved so deeply. She learned to cope. Now, it was my turn to learn how to deal with that. Erin was fine and I knew that. She would call me and I knew that. I just had to be patient.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I picked it up, calmly. "Hello?" I asked, waiting to hear Erin's voice on the other end.

"Yo, Seth." Brady. Of course. "So, Erin call you yet?"

I heaved a sigh. "No, not yet." Silence. "Brady? You there?"

"Huh?" he asked. "Oh. Kendra texted me. Apparently she's at a 'Welcome Home' party for Erin. That may be why she hasn't called you yet."

"Really?" I asked him. "I hadn't gathered that."

"She says... Oh. Erin doesn't seem to be having a really good time. You know how she is." Brady told me.

I heaved another sigh. "Well, yeah." I ran a hand through my hair. "But if she really doesn't wanna be there, why doesn't she just sneak off and call me?"

"Hold on." Brady said. I heard a bunch of clicking and, a minute later, a kind of beeping. "She says, 'Jamie is watching her like a hawk, making sure she doesn't go off anywhere.' Woah. This Jamie girl sounds like a-"

"Brady." I warned. "Look, I'm gonna go. You have fun texting Kendra, okay?"

"Right." He hung up.

I tossed the phone right back on my bed, groaning. "Erin," I said out loud. "It's going to be a long night. For the both of us."

**I hope you all liked this chapter. Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. You may have noticed that the song lyric was a little longer than usual. I just think the entire song 'Vanilla Twilight' describes how Seth is feeling. Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to update soon.**


	11. What's The Dealio?

"_There's a stranger in my life. You're not the person that I once knew. Are you scared to let them know it's you? If they could only see you like I do then they would see a stranger too."- from 'Stranger' by Hilary Duff_

Erin's POV

"Erin!" Kendra shouted at me over the blaring rap music that was playing at my party. (Couldn't Jamie put on music that _I _liked at _my_ party?) I was sitting on the couch in Jamie and Dylan's living room watching a ton of people I didn't even know- and a few people I did- dance. If you can call what they were doing dancing.

"What?" I shouted looking up at her. She was holding a can of Dr. Pepper. I noticed everyone else was drinking out of red plastic cups. I thought that was a little odd. I didn't say anything though.

In response, she grabbed me by my arm, yanked me up off the couch, and dragged me into the kitchen. I could actually hear myself think in there and didn't have to listen to someone rap about money and some girl's butt.

"You haven't touched the punch, have you?" Kendra asked me, opening up the fridge and grabbing another Dr. Pepper for herself and one for me. She shut the fridge with her hip and walked back over to me, handing over the ice cold drink.

"No." I answered, pulling the tab on the can. I took a swig, my first sip of liquid since before I went to the mall with Jamie. I was wearing the outfit she bought me: a long sleeve turquoise dress that came up just above my knees, black leggings, and black, ankle high boots. I'd picked it out myself, watching Jamie look appalled.

"Good." Kendra said, guzzling her own soda. "It's been spiked."

"What?" I asked, almost spitting Dr. Pepper everywhere. "Are you serious?" I was utterly shocked. Did Jamie know?

Kendra nodded her head. "Yeah. It happens at every party Jamie and Dylan throw. Their parents aren't home so they don't get in trouble. I don't see why the neighbors haven't called the cops from all of the noise yet."

Just then, Jamie walked into the kitchen. She glared at Kendra who glared right back, unafraid. "Kendra, Drew's looking for you. Something about a text message that just popped up on your phone."

Kendra sighed heavily, rolled her eyes, and walked out of the kitchen. Jamie smiled at me and walked over to me. "Seriously, I have no idea what Kendra's problem is lately."

I shrugged having absolutely no idea what Jamie was talking about. Just as I was thinking about what Kendra had said about the punch, I noticed something different about Jamie. Frowning, I asked, "Do you have a nose ring?"

"Oh, yeah." Jamie said, touching the tiny diamond stud in her nose. "Mom and Dad have no clue, so I only wear it when they aren't here. They'd flip out." She grinned. "They also don't know about this." She lifted up her black sweater, revealing a belly button ring. "Or this." She turned around, showing me a tattoo of a princess crown on her back. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah." I didn't care about the piercings or the tattoo, but I couldn't believe that she'd gone and done it behind her parents' backs. What was with Jamie? And she thought Kendra had a problem.

"So, why aren't you dancing?" Jamie asked me, raising an eyebrow. "You need to loosen up and have some fun." She laughed.

"I'm still really tired from the drive here." I lied through my teeth. She knew I hated parties and dancing and dancing at parties. "I'm just going to go and sit back down." I left her in the kitchen and walked back to the couch. Before I got there, however, Kendra pulled me to the side. A vaguely familiar looking girl with brown hair in a Paramore t-shirt was standing next to her.

"Erin, you remember Leslie, right?" Kendra asked me, gesturing towards the girl. "Leslie Smith."

I nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Well, she had a brilliant idea." Kendra told me. "Go on Leslie, tell her."

"This music sucks. You agree?" Leslie asked me. I nodded and she continued. "I'm gonna hijack the sound system." She pulled out a green iPod Nano. "They're using an iHome."

"Oh, no." I said, laughing. "That would be epic." I wasn't lying. Something had to be done about this terribly awful music. I couldn't understand a word of it.

"Since this whole party's for you," Leslie handed me the iPod. "I think you should go through and find a song to play first."

I grinned mischievously. I scrolled through the iPod until I found the perfect song to put on. "Here." I said, handing it back to Leslie. She grinned and showed Kendra the song. Kendra laughed. "Genius."

We located the iHome and yanked out the iPod that was already in it. There was a loud, collective "Hey" and a couple people yelled, "What the fuck?" We shoved Leslie's iPod in and pressed play.

"_Right right, turn off the lights_

_We gonna lose our minds tonight_

_What's the dealio?_

_I love when it's all too much_

_Five a.m. turn the radio up_

_Where's the rock and roll?"_

"What's going on?" someone yelled. "This is bullcrap!" someone else chimed in. "Who turned off the good music?"

In the middle of the riot, Kendra, Leslie and I started dancing and laughing. For the first time the whole night I was actually having so much fun. It was great. I was instantly reminded of the dance with Seth and Scout and Collin. That made me laugh harder.

"_So raise your glass if you are wrong _

_In all the right ways_

_All my underdogs, we will never be, never be_

_Anything but loud_

_And nitty gritty dirty little freaks_

_Won't you come on, and come on, and_

_Raise your glass_

_Just come on and come on and_

_Raise your glass!"_

Suddenly, I heard Jamie yell, "Who in the fuck did this?" She walked over to the iHome and yanked out Leslie's iPod. She looked so mad. I didn't understand why though. It was good music.

"I did, Jamie." Leslie said, walking forward. "Got a problem with it?" Oh, it was so about to be on. I could tell.

Jamie glared at her for a minute and then handed her back her iPod. "If you don't like the music I'm playing, leave." She crossed her arms and waited.

"Ugh!" Leslie tore out of the room and Kendra ran off after her. I just stood there for a moment as I heard the front door slam. "Kendra!" someone yelled. I watched Drew Cantly, annoyed, run off after my best friend while I just stood there and did nothing.

"Sorry for that!" Jamie yelled, turning the crappy music back on. "Party on!" she shouted and everyone cheered.

I sank back on the couch, mad. "Hey, you okay?" Dylan sank down next to me. "You look upset."

"Well, yeah." I told him. "This party was supposed to be for me but I hate this music, I don't know half of these people, and my best friend just stormed off because my other best friend was worked up over someone putting some good music on."

"That's just Jamie for you." Dylan told me, shrugging.

I didn't know what I was going to do. All I knew was that I could not wait to get home and talk to Seth. I wasn't so sure I knew Jamie anymore. I wasn't so sure I liked her anymore.

**I am so sorry guys. I am trying so hard to update regularly. I just don't seem to be able to. I hope you like this chapter though.**


	12. A Call To Home

"_Baby you were born to shine, shine your light on me. And baby you were born to shine, born to shine. So live your life for the whole world to see 'cause baby you were born to shine, born to shine, shine on me." -from 7 Sharp 9 'Shine'_

Seth's POV

"Erin!" I cried happily at one o'clock in the morning when my girlfriend finally called me. I didn't even care that it was really early in the morning (Or really late at night depending on how you looked at it.).

"Hey, Seth." she said, sounding tired. "Sorry I didn't call earlier. It's just that I-I-I-" She gave a huge yawn. "Ugh. Sorry. I'm just so sleepy. I didn't know sitting on a couch watching a bunch of drunk idiots dance to rap music for hours could tucker a person out so much."

"Wait, drunk idiots?" I asked, of course picking out the worst part of what she was saying. "There were drunk people at that party?"

"Uh huh." she said, yawning again. "Everyone but me and Dylan." She paused. "Oh, and Kendra, Drew Cantly, and Leslie Smith. They left though so I guess they don't count."

"But you're okay?" I asked, a little bit worried. I knew I didn't have any reason to be. Erin wasn't stupid. It was just an instinct, a reflex.

"Oh yeah." she replied. I heard the squeaking of springs so I assumed she was sitting down on her bed. "Dylan helped me lug all of my presents next door. I took a shower after that. So, I've been home for an hour now. Mari thinks I'm asleep."

I nodded, feeling a little awkward over her friend Dylan. They were just friends though. No reason to worry. "So, what's the story with you and Dylan." I mentally groaned. I was an idiot.

Luckily, Erin took it rather well. "Well, I grew up next door to him, used to beat him up, and then we were big buds." She chuckled. "But... um... I did have a little crush on him when I was twelve. Didn't last too long. Oh, and not too long ago Jamie said he had a crush on me but she was probably starting stuff. She does that."

"Oh." I said, feeling a lot better. "Sorry for asking. It's just I-"

"Don't worry about it, Seth." she told me sweetly. "So how are things over on your end?"

I took a huge breath. "Well, Leah's headed back to school tomorrow, Brady keeps texting Kendra, Scout told me to tell you to call her soon, and Mrs. Underwood says she's sorry she missed you leaving."

"Oh." she said, sounding a little sad. "I miss all of you so much. I wish I could just drag Kendra down there and we could live in hiding and just hang out with you guys all day." She heaved a sigh. "Alas, I can't. It wouldn't work."

I gave a little chuckle. "Well, I may have some news that'll make you feel better."

"What is it?"

"Well, I've decided I'm coming up to see you on Saturday for the whole day. Brady wants to come too. We cleared it with everyone. They seemed a little happy to be rid of us for a whole day actually." I laughed.

"Oh no, Seth." Erin said, sounding... upset? Guilty maybe? "I can't ask you to spend all that gas money on me. Not so soon after I've gone. I can hold on for a while longer."

"No, no. It's no trouble." I quickly assured her. "See, I got a job. Mrs. Underwood's getting up in years. She said she would pay me to do things around her house and to run errands."

"Oh." Erin said, sounding relieved. "Well, I suppose that's all right then." She yawned again. "Hey, Seth? I think I'm going to go to sleep now. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, sure." I answered, a little upset that we were saying good-bye so soon. "I love you, Erin."

"I love you too, Seth." She hung up.

I hung up my own phone and stared up at the ceiling. I was excited to see Erin again, but I also felt sad. I wish we didn't have to be so far apart. What was I going to do? I decided to take a special trip the next day. Maybe I'd find an answer then. I sure hoped so.

I rolled over on my side and closed my eyes. I let exhaustion overtake me. I let the darkness wash over me. I fell into a dream of Erin. It was nice there in that warm, safe place.

**Hey everyone. I've been a little sick. Sore throat. Sorry. This chapter isn't exactly what I hoped it would be. I wrote it two or three times. This was my best attempt. It's also really short. Sorry for that too. The song at the beginning doesn't really go with the chapter. I searched and searched for one that went better. Oh well. Updating soon.**


	13. Picture Perfect

"_Pictures of you, pictures of me hung upon your wall for the world to see. Pictures of you, pictures of me remind us all of what we used to be." - from The Last Goodnight 'Pictures of You'_

Erin's POV

"Erin! Wake up!" I heard the unmistakable sound of Kendra's voice and then was hit in the face with a pillow.

Disoriented, I swatted at her and then fell off my bed and onto the floor face first. I pulled myself up into a sitting position and rubbed my eyes, Kendra coming into focus. "What in the... what time is it? Why are you here?"

"The time, my dear friend, is a little after twelve and I am here to give you the present I never got to give you yesterday." Kendra answered, trying not to laugh at me. I was so glad she was amused. I felt terrible and just wanted to lie down on the ground until the ceiling fell down on me.

"Well, what is it then?" I asked, trying my best to be sociable. I wrapped my arms around myself, cold.

Kendra held out two buckets of paint. "I thought you might like some help redecorating your room." We both looked around out my old, pale purple walls. You could see the places where posters had once been.

"Thanks." I mumbled. I really was grateful but I just wasn't in the mood. I was upset. I felt that I'd screwed up big time.

Kendra sat the cans of paint down next to her feet, walked closer to me, and sat down next to me. "Okay, Erin. Something's wrong. What's up? Tell good ol' Kendra all about what's troublin' you."

I let out a heavy sigh. "It's Seth." I told her. I'd called him the first chance I had gotten: one o'clock in the morning. It hadn't gone very well. I was just too tired to talk for very long and I think it might have led him to think that I didn't want to talk to him at all.

"You two didn't break up did you?" Kendra looked at me sadly. "I thought the two of you had somethin' special. It was like what my momma and daddy have only... more than that somehow." She shook her head. "I don't know. I kinda just thought you two were... soul mates. Sounds kinda stupid, huh?"

I stared at my best friend for a moment, not quite sure what to say to that. "No, we didn't break up." I finally answered.

Kendra's face lit up. "Oh thank the heavens. I was about to get all depressed. You two are too cute."

I chuckled and then sighed hugely. "I think I kind of upset him when I called him." I covered my eyes with my hands and shook my head. "I think I screwed up big time."

Kendra frowned. "Well, what did you do?"

"Well..." I didn't even know where to begin. "I was supposed to call him as soon as we got in. Unfortunately, due to Jamie that didn't happen." Kendra rolled her eyes. "I finally got to call him around one in the morning. He talked about visiting this weekend."

"I fail to see anything wrong here." Kendra said, confused. "Well, yeah. So you should've ignored Jamie and just called him when you promised but other than that everything seems fine."

"That's where you are wrong my dear friend." I drew a breath. "Thinking back on it, I see that I sounded like I didn't want him coming."

"How?"

"I thought it would be too much gas money." I began explaining. "I told him 'No, you don't have to come. I'll be fine.' or something along those lines. Then after he explained he got a job, I was all 'Oh. Okay. That's cool then.'" I grabbed my pillow off the floor and shoved it into my face. "UGH!" I groaned, muffled by the pillow.

Kendra petted my head. "You're overreacting, Erin. There's no way Seth would get upset over that. You were tired. I'm sure he understands. I'm also sure he understood about you not wanting him to put a lot of money into coming down here a lot."

I peeled the pillow away from my face. "I didn't tell you the worst part." I moaned. "I told him that I used to have a crush on Dylan." I shoved the pillow back into my face.

"Oh, Erin." Kendra groaned. I heard her slap her hand to her forehead. "Well, it'll be fine. It was a long time ago and you obviously don't like Dylan now."

Well, Kendra was certainly right about that. I didn't have the tiniest hint of any kind of feeling for Dylan other than that kind of love that friends share. That's all we were. I loved Seth. No one else. I mean, I was his imprint for crying out loud. I didn't want nor need anyone else.

"Well yeah..." I started off. "But how do I know that Jamie isn't actually serious about Dylan liking me? What if he does?"

Kendra sighed, looking at me skeptically. "If he does, which I highly doubt, then just set 'im down nice 'n' easy." she advised. "So, ready to move everything outta here and start paintin'?"

I looked around at my room, filled with boxes and other junk. "Couldn't have picked a better time to decide to paint." I answered, standing up.

Kendra chuckled, also getting up. "That was the general idea." She smiled, looking like a child with a little help from her freckles and bright eyes.

Not including the time it took to clear out my room and set up, it took us about two hours to paint the room and another hour to let it dry and carry up all of the boxes. Once finished, my lime green bedroom was in desperate need of decorating.

I jumped on my bed, bright orange comforter and pink sheets and pillowcases freshly washed. "Grab me a box." I instructed Kendra.

Kendra walked over to me carrying a box that had 'Important Stuff' scrawled in Scout's handwriting on the top in purple Sharpie. She sat it in front of me and then plopped down next to me.

"I know what's in here..." I said, pulling off the lid excitedly. Sure enough, dozens of cards and pictures and picture albums were safely nestled inside the box. I took out the photo album on top and opened it to a random page.

"No way." Kendra said, looking at the album upside down. "These aren't from...?"

I nodded, knowing what she was trying to ask. The majority of the pictures in this album were taken the day that Kendra came down to Forks to visit me. We looked through the album together, laughing.

"So, what are we gonna do with all these?" Kendra asked when we were done.

"Hmm." I pondered, pulling out more photo albums, some of them about as old as I was. I opened one of the oldest albums and looked at a picture of me as a baby with my parents. I turned to face the wall behind me and an idea struck me.

"Kendra, hand me that blue painter's tape." I ordered, amazed at my own brilliance.

"Uh... okay." she said, picking up the roll of tape off the floor. "What for?" she asked, handing it to me, looking puzzled.

"I'm gonna make a giant collage on the wall in front of my bed. It'll be in the shape of a heart."

Kendra gasped. "Oh my Lord. That is the most amazing idea ever."

"Thanks." I said, starting to peel the tape off the roll. "Do me a favor though."

"What?" Kendra asked.

"Get in those other boxes and put up some posters and drawings I've done, okay?" I asked her.

"Sure thing." she replied.

An hour and a half later, my room was covered in pictures of my family and friends, Harry Potter posters, and drawings of wolves. You could still see the paint on the walls though. I wasn't that crazy.

"Phew." Kendra said, collapsing on my bed. "I never knew redecoratin' was so dag-gone exhaustin'."

"Mari's home." I commented, looking out the window. It was then I saw something that made me gasp. "Oh my God, Kendra."

"What?" she asked, getting up and walking over towards me.

"Look." I said, pointing to the edge of the road in front of my house. "It's a little abandoned doggie."

"Wonder how long the poor thing's been out there." Kendra half-whispered.

"Well, let's go and rescue him." I said, turning towards the door.

"Right behind ya."

Kendra and I ran out of my room, down the stairs, into my living room, and out the front door, slamming it behind us. We then ran across the yard as Mari yelled, "Oh good. You girls can help me get the groceries." We ignored her and ran straight for the dog.

It was a mutt. That much I could tell. It was an adorable little thing. It saw us coming and wagged its tail a little. Its fur was muddy and matted. It might have been white or grey. It was hard to tell with all the filth. Its eyes were a beautiful brown and its poor, sad face made me want to cry. It looked like it had hurt its front paw. I did cry when I noticed that.

I picked the poor thing up, crying my eyes out and ran over to Mari. "Mari, look." The puppy was making me so sad. How could anyone do something like this to him? (Picking him up made me realize he was a boy.)

"Oh." she said, looking sad herself. "I'll run him to the vet and then take him to the pound." She reached out her arms to take him from me.

"No." I said, drawing away from her and holding the puppy closer to me. "They kill animals at the pound." I started crying really hard after I had said that. I'm an animal lover. Always have been.

When I had been little, strays used to follow me home all the time. Mom and Dad would find them homes since Dad was allergic. One had even gone to Kendra. However, I'd never gotten this upset over a dog. I thought it was the eyes. They looked like Seth's. And maybe it was also the fact that the poor baby had been abused.

Mari took a huge breath. "Okay. If it means that much to you, we'll keep him."

"Really?" I asked, my tears stopping.

"Really." she promised.

"I can take him to the vet for you." Kendra offered. (I'd almost forgotten she was there.) "I'm sure Daddy won't mind if I put the visit on his tab."

"Okay." I said, handing him over to my best friend. "Wait a second though. He needs a name first."

"You found him." Mari told me. "You can name him."

I pondered that for a while. So many names. Which one to pick? "Neville." I answered finally. "He's one of my favorite Harry Potter characters."

"Neville it is." Mari answered.

"I'll call you later and let you know how he's doing." Kendra told me. "I'll bring him back as soon as I can." Kendra walked to her truck with Neville and then drove off.

"Come on, kid." Mari said, handing me a couple bags of groceries. "Let's get dinner started."

_I'll call Seth tomorrow. _I promised myself. _Immediately after school. I should get home at the same time he does. I'll apologize._

Something told me, however, that I didn't really need to.

**Long chapter. Thought that may make up for the fact that it took me so long to post. Sorry. So, my last couple of chapters have seemed to make people a little upset. My next few chapters should help. I hope. Updating soon.**


	14. Mountains

"_There are time in life when you gotta crawl, lose your grip, trip, and fall. When you can't lean on no one else, that's when you find yourself. I've been around and I've noticed that walking's easy when the road is flat. Them danged 'ole hills will get you every time. Yeah, the good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb."- from Lonestar 'Mountains'_

Seth's POV

I was driving along a long and winding road. I was headed to a very special and rather sad place. I was hoping this trip would be good for me. I'd get to clear my head and figure out what to do about Erin. Also, I'd have a nice visit with someone really important to me.

I came to a fork in the road. On my left stood a massive church. It looked kind of like the ones in movies. On my right there was more road. I turned left, swallowing hard. I hadn't been here in so long.

I pulled up into the church parking lot and turned off the ignition. I let out a sigh and buried my head in my hands. I wasn't all too sure I could handle this. I had to though. I knew I would have to come here sooner or later. With what was going on, it just seemed like it was time.

I shook my head a couple of times, unbuckled my seat belt, opened my car door, and got out, slamming the door behind me. With my hands in my pockets, I walked round towards the back of the church. There were a bunch of gravestones and a hill with a lone gravestone. I weaved my through graves and up the hill.

I looked down on my father's grave and, for the first time, I started crying. I never knew why I couldn't cry when he died. I was more than sad; I was devastated. It just really hit me at that moment I suppose. I was having girl problems and Dad wasn't around to help me. I was basically on my own.

"Hey Dad." I said, choking on my tears. "It's... uh... Seth." I don't know why I was talking out loud. It wasn't like he could hear me or anything. "Sorry I haven't visited or anything. I... couldn't bear to be here. Still can't."

Suddenly, I felt a breeze caress my cheek. Huh. Maybe what people said about your loved ones reassuring you in your time of need was true. Maybe Dad really could hear me.

I took a deep breath. "Well... I finally imprinted on this really amazing girl. Her name's Erin Morgan. God, you'd love her." I told him. "She's something." I gave a weak laugh.

"So... to the reason for my visit." I said, closing my eyes. I was trying to keep the tears away. Why did this have to happen when I needed to stay calm? This was no time to cry. Why couldn't I have cried at the funeral like a normal person? Why'd I have to start crying when I shouldn't need to cry?

I took a huge breath. "Right. Well." I sighed heavily. "Erin moved back to her home in Astoria. She's back up there with all of her friends. There's... this guy... Dylan. She used to like him and she thinks he likes her and... ugh! I shouldn't be upset about this. I know that she... she loves me. I just..."

I kicked at thin air, slipped on wet grass, and landed down hard on the ground next to Dad's grave. I turned my head back toward the gravestone. Written under my dad's name, date of birth, and date of death was a quote from his favorite song: Mountains by Lonestar.

"The good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb." I read. I looked up at the sky. "That some kind of sign, Dad? Making me fall on my ass just so I could read a quote on your tombstone? I never did get your sense of humor."

I picked myself up off the ground and stared back down at the grave. "Okay... so if that was a sign... what? Just... wait until she calls again and then have a serious talk with her?" I looked back up the sky. "Seriously? I came out here for this?"

I shook my head, sadly. "That's not why I wanted to come out here was it? That's not what the 'sign' was for, was it?"

I'd come to finally express my feelings over what had happened to Dad. I finally got my chance to cry over him. The sign was just to assure me that I could get past whatever I happened to be going through on my own.

"Thanks Dad." I said, shaking my head. Man, I never got that man's sense of humor. "I'll visit more often. Maybe...uh... maybe I'll even bring Erin out here one day." I felt another breeze pass by and then I turned around and left.

On the drive back home, I felt way better than I had in a while. Everything would be fine and I knew that. I had done something I had needed to do a very long time ago. I was finally okay.

"_The good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb."_

**Sorry this is so short everyone. I would just like to say something because I know people will ask me about this. This is going on at the same time as my previous chapter. Now that all of that is cleared up... leave me a nice review. Updating soon.**


	15. Losers

_"It's a new day but it all feels old. It's a good life, that's what I'm told but everyday it all just feels the same."- from Good Charlotte 'The Anthem'_

Erin's POV

By lunch I felt like I'd been in school for an eternity. I never knew Algebra III and French I would be so exhausting. Immediately after lunch I would have AP Art (The only junior in my class so I was told.) and Biology II. Looked like it was one eternity down another eternity to go.

"Erin! Over here!" I heard Kendra shout from a table on the far left side of the cafeteria. Just as I turned in her direction, Dylan ran up to me, throwing an arm over my shoulder. "Hey. Come sit with us." He motioned towards a table filled with a bunch of stupid jocks, slutty girls, and Jamie.

"Uh..." I glanced back at Kendra's table. Leslie was the only person I recognized besides Kendra and Drew (Who didn't look too happy to be sitting there by the way.). Kendra was standing up, looking at me with a confused expression. "If it's all right with you, I think I'll just go and sit with Kendra."

Dylan let go of me. "Uh... okay then. If that's what you wanna do." He walked off, looking dejected. Okayyy. Odd.

I carried my tray over to Kendra's table and plopped down next to her. "Almost thought you weren't going to come over here." Kendra said. She smiled though, clearly happy with my decision.

"Hey, Erin." Leslie said, giving me a little wave. "How're you?"

I shrugged. "Exhausted really."

Kendra grinned. "Well, let me introduce you to everyone. You've met most of them before, but you probably don't remember them." She wasn't wrong.

"Hey, how about letting us introduce ourselves, Kendra." an Asian girl interjected. "Alee Nakamura. We had a lot of classes together in sixth grade."

"Oh, yeah." I said, recognizing her. "I remember you now." She smiled.

"Nick Johnson." said the boy sitting next to Alee. He had spiky blonde hair and clear, blue eyes. "You don't know me. I went to a different middle school."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." I told him, smiling warmly.

The only other person at the table was a dark headed boy sitting next to Leslie. "Name's Avery Butler. I've known you since we were, like, five."

"Oh. Right." I said. I remembered him. He'd been a scrawny kid. I'd never really had much to do with him. In fact, I may have even picked on him. Dylan too. I was a little mean as a kid. Until Kendra moved here anyway.

Kendra tapped me. "Avery's dating Leslie." she whispered. "Nick's got a crush on Alee but she likes someone named Jay Greer. Personally, I think she should just date Nick. He's a nice guy. I dated Jay once. He's... well... personally I think he may be gay. Nothing wrong with that though. I just think he should come out already. He sits here too but he's out with a cold. You might meet him later this week."

I nodded. I was used to making new friends now. It seemed that was all I ever did anymore. There's nothing wrong with that though. It's nice to have a lot of friends. You're never bored.

"Ugh." Leslie said suddenly. "Why does she keep looking over here?" she sneered.

"Who?" I asked, taking a swig of water.

"Jamie." Alee said disgustedly. "She keeps glancing over her shoulder and laughing at us with her brother and their stupid friends."

"Weren't you friends with Jamie and Dylan when we were little?" Avery asked me, glaring angrily in their direction.

"Uh..." I began. "I kinda still am. At least, I think."

"What do you mean 'I think'?" Nick asked me. "Are you or not?"

I sighed. "Well, yeah. Not so sure that's a good thing anymore."

"Trust me." Kendra said, making a face in Jamie's direction. "It's not. She's horrible. Well, she's always been horrible but it's worse now."

"I hear she's slept with everyone on the football team except for her brother." Alee piped up.

Drew stood up. "Hey, Kendra? I'm uh... gonna go sit with some of my friends. See you later?"

"Uh... sure." Kendra said, looking a tad bit upset. "Go on ahead. I'll be fine."

"Thanks." he said, running off without so much as a hug goodbye. What a charmer.

Leslie, noticing my look of disgust, tapped me. "Don't see why she puts up with that. Drew's an idiot and a jerk. He hangs around Dylan a lot. I'm pretty sure he flirts with Jamie. Just look at him." I turned by head in their direction and, sure enough, Drew was totally flirting with Jamie and she was flirting back. "Sickening."

"And Kendra doesn't know about any of this?" I whispered back.

"I think she does and just pretends that it's not happening." Leslie answered.

"So, how's Seth?" Kendra asked me suddenly, stabbing a potato.

"Don't know." I replied. "I can't call him until after school." Thinking about what Leslie said and what I had just witnessed, I asked, "You talked to Brady lately?"

"Yeah." Kendra said, smiling a bit. Hmm. "I think he's coming up with Seth."

"Wait." Alee said, looking confused. "Who are Seth and Brady?"

"Seth's my boyfriend and Brady is one of his friends." I answered. "They're back in Forks."

"Yeah, they're awesome." Kendra told everyone. "Maybe you guys could meet them sometime. Just not this weekend. It should just probably be me and Brady and Seth and Erin. You guys could meet them the next time they come up though. Right, Erin?"

"Yeah." I said, thinking that was actually a pretty good idea. "You can totally meet them the next time they come up."

"One question." Avery interjected. "They anything like that." He jerked his thumb in the direction of Dylan's table. The guys were all throwing food at each other and all of the girls were laughing.

"Not a thing." Kendra assured him.

"Sound like my kinda people." Avery answered and everyone nodded in agreement.

Suddenly the bell rang. We all ran over to the garbage cans to dump our trays. After, we all headed off in the directions of our classrooms. I was actually looking forward to AP Art.

_Well, I certainly have a lot to think about. _I thought to myself. _New friends, new information, and then that stuff about Jamie, Dylan, and Drew. Don't know what to do about all of that yet. Maybe I'll talk to Seth. Or Sue. Or Scout. Or all three. Yeah, probably all three. _Boy. High school drama was a pain in the rear.

**Okay. Don't shoot me for not updating. Don't shoot me for adding new characters. Don't shoot me for lack of Seth/Erin. Seth gets a phone call from her in the next chapter, okay? Trust me. This is all necessary. You'll see why later. I'll update sooner next time. Bye. Don't shoot me.**


	16. Stuck Like Glue

"_There you go making my heart beat again, heart beat again, heart beat again. There you go making me feel like a kid. Won't you do it and do it one time? There you go pulling me right back in, right back in, right back in. And I know I'm never letting this go. I'm stuck on you." - from Sugarland 'Stuck Like Glue'_

Seth's POV

It was after school and I was busy sweeping Mrs. Underwood's kitchen floor while she was sitting in her living room watching _Oprah_. I was almost finished when my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket, Erin's name appearing on the screen.

I leaned the broom up against the counter and walked into Mrs. Underwood's living room. "It's Erin. Mind if I take a break?"

"Go right ahead." she said, smiling gently.

I smiled back and answered, walking towards the front door. "Hey, Erin." I said, stepping outside into the cold air. I was pleasantly surprised by this call.

"Hey." she said sweetly. "What're you doing?"

"Uh... sweeping up Mrs. Underwood's kitchen actually." I replied. "Remember I told you I got that job with her?"

"Right." she said. "Well, if I'm keeping you from your work-"

"No, no." I quickly interjected. "I can talk. It's fine. Mrs. Underwood doesn't mind at all." Did Erin just not want to talk to me? What was going on?

I heard her take a deep breath on the other end. "I... know you're upset with me, Seth. Can't say I blame you. I haven't been... I haven't seemed like I've been wanting to talk to you lately."

"Yeah." I said sadly. "I've uh... noticed that."

"There's just... a lot going on down here." she explained to me. "Kendra seems to be having boyfriend problems and won't admit it to anyone and it seems as though Jamie and Dylan are terrible people."

"Yeah, and how is Dylan?" I blurted out. Oh no. What had I done? I thought I wasn't mad about the Dylan thing. Looks like I was utterly wrong about that.

Erin sighed again. "I figured we'd have to talk about that. You have a right to know. It's really not a big deal though. Trust me."

"So, what's the story?"

"I'd lived next door to Dylan and Jamie my whole life." Erin began. "I was the perfect playmate for Jamie according to both of our parents. Jamie was the beauty pageant type and I wasn't. I got along with Dylan better and we became best friends. We did everything together. We left Jamie out of everything."

Right. Okay. I understood that. Erin was a tomboy and at a young age they usually did get along with boys way better than with girls. So why was I still a little mad?

"Well, we got older. I ended up hanging out with Jamie a lot and keeping away from Dylan. He'd started getting cute. Girls were all over him and I didn't like that. It made me mad. It made me realize that I liked him.

"Then my parents died and I had to live with his family for two months. Jamie and Dylan didn't talk to me. I guess they just didn't know what to say. I moved to Forks and Dylan never spoke to me. Jamie called once in a blue moon. Kendra called every chance she got.

"Before I met you, I thought about Dylan everyday. The second I met you, I didn't think about him as much and when I did think of him, it was Dylan the little kid I used to beat up and who was my best friend in the world."

"Really?" I asked. That last bit had made me feel a whole lot better. "So, there never was anything at all really? You just thought he was cute?"

"Yeah." she answered, sounding embarrassed. "You're cuter though."

"Oh, you're just saying that." I said, smiling. How could I have ever gotten so upset? She was my imprint. She loved me as much as I loved her.

"No, I mean it." she told me. "I'm really sorry, Seth. I know I made you mad. I'd be mad too. I hope you can forgive me."

"Consider yourself forgiven." I told her, glad that everything was good between us once again. I couldn't stand feeling the way I had been since the day she left. It was just so awful.

"I'm glad." she said. "Now, not to sound like I want to go, I think you better get back to cleaning. I will definitely call you tomorrow."

"Okay." I answered. "Maybe you can explain that boyfriend problem of Kendra's."

"I will. S'long as you don't say a word to Brady."

"Definitely not a good idea."

"Nope. Well, I love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and stared out into Mrs. Underwood's yard for a moment. Erin and I were okay. Still, being apart didn't really seem to be working out. Good thing I'd already applied to and been accepted at Clatsop Community College which was right in Astoria. I hadn't sent in any money yet and I'd also been accepted at Washington State University but I was pretty sure of where I was going.

"Seth?" Mrs. Underwood asked from behind me. "Are you okay out here?"

"Uh... yeah." I answered. "Just got off the phone with Erin."

"Long distance relationships are hard. I know from experience." she said sagely. "My husband fought in a couple of wars in his day. I was over here. We were all right. You will be too." She placed an old hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Mrs. U."

"No problem." she told me, smiling. "Now, how about I make you a little snack for your hard work."

"That sounds good." I followed her into the house, glad to have such a cool old lady for a teacher.

**So, another new chapter for you guys. You all may be wondering the reasons for the new characters. I am in the process of writing a story called 'Sparks' which is all about Brady and Kendra. That story coincides with events in this story. Thus the introduction of new characters. They're important in Kendra's story. Well, and in bit of this one. You'll see. Hope you like this chapter.**


	17. Together Can Never Be Close Enough

"_And I don't know how it gets better than this. You take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless. And I don't know why but with you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless." - from Taylor Swift 'Fearless'_

Erin's POV

The second the doorbell rang on Saturday morning I ran straight down the stairs half-dressed. I still had on my pajama bottoms with a very nice purple button up shirt. My hair was only half fixed too. One side was up and the other was in a tangled mess. I didn't care though. Seth was at the door.

"Don't get it!" I yelled at Mari as I thundered down the stairs. "I got it! I got it!"

"You're only half-dressed." she said, looking at me from the bottom of the stairs.

"I don't care!" I yelled, running past her and towards the front door. I threw it open without checking to see who it was. My face fell when I realized it was only Kendra. "Oh." I said, glumly. "It's only you."

"Well, that's no way to greet your best friend." she joked, stepping into the entryway. She shut the door behind her and put her hands on her hips. "This what you plan on lookin' like when Seth gets here?"

"Of course not." I said. "I'm not finished getting ready yet." I stared at her. She was wearing a cute dark blue top underneath her good black leather jacket. She was wearing her best skinny jeans and black riding boots too. She'd even curled her short red hair. "Well, you look nice."

Kendra blushed a bit. "Mamma always told me to look nice when company's comin'." I figured it was a little more than that, but I let it go.

"C'mon. Let's get up to my room so I can finish getting ready." I said, turning back towards the stairs. "Mari, if the doorbell rings again, don't you dare answer."

"Wouldn't dream of it." she said, heading back to the living room as Kendra and I took the stairs to my room two at a time.

"Turn around." I said once we were up in my room. Kendra obediently turned around and closed her eyes. I ripped off my pajama bottoms and grabbed the first pair of jeans I could reach in my closet. I pulled them on quickly. "Kay. You can look now. What do you think?"

Kendra turned back around and smiled. "Perfect. Now... do something about that rat's nest you call hair."

I grabbed my hairbrush and a hair bow off the vanity and waged war on my hair. Several minutes and a lot of tears later, my hair looked great. I was ready for Seth to show up.

"Hey, Erin." Kendra said, looking out the window. "Seth's car is coming down the street. I can see him now."

"Well, come on." I said, shoving my boots on my feet. "Let's get moving." I ran out of my bedroom and ran down the stairs as fast as I could with Kendra following behind me.

"The doorbell didn't even ring yet." Mari called, hearing us running. "Calm down."

"Honestly, Mari." I yelled, running for the door. "You really don't get it." I yanked the door open and ran straight for the driveway where Seth and Brady were pulling in.

"Seth!" I yelled as soon as he opened his car door.

"Let the boy get out of the car, Erin." Kendra said, laughing.

Seth chuckled with her, climbing out of his seat. "You really missed me, didn't you?" he asked, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Oh yeah." I said, taking everything in.

"Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her." Brady and Kendra chanted together, laughing.

"Well." Seth began pulling away from the hug a bit. "Gotta give the people what they want." He bent his head down, giving me a sweet little kiss on the lips. It was like I'd just... eaten sunshine.

"Well, what is this?" I heard Jamie ask. I pulled away from Seth and turned to her front porch. There she was, just standing there.

"Uh... what do you mean?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"You didn't tell me you were having a little get together, silly." With that beauty pageant flair, Jamie glided off her porch and into my yard.

"Not really a get together." I muttered, unheard by everyone except Seth. He looked at me with raised eyebrows and I just gave my head a little shake.

Jamie leaned close to my ear. "Gonna introduce me to your cute friends?"

Oh no. Jamie was not going to do this to me. She was not going to weasel her way into hanging out with me, Seth, Brady, and Kendra. No. She was not going to try to take Brady away from Kendra (Not that she could.). I could not let this happen.

"Well?" she asked.

I took a huge breath. "Jamie, this is my boyfriend Seth and over next to Kendra is his best friend Brady. There, happy?" I asked, quickly.

Jamie leaned in again. "Brady, huh? He is too cute. Let me go get changed. This should be fun."

That was the last straw. I was putting my foot down. "No." I told her loud enough for everyone to hear. "You can't just come with us. You weren't invited. We're going horseback riding. You hate horses."

Jamie pretended to look hurt. "Well, you didn't have to be so mean, Erin. You could've just put it nicely. I... don't want to intrude. Have fun." She turned, fake crying, and ran for her house. She was probably hoping Brady would follow her.

"That girl is... insane." Brady said, watching Jamie retreat into the house.

Kendra looked at him, wide-eyed. Apparently that was not the reaction she had expected from Brady. Ah. Imprinting. I loved it.

"So..." Seth began. "How about we... go then?"

"Sounds good to me." I answered, suddenly getting a great idea. "So... Kendra. Since your truck is here, why don't you drive Brady over to the barn and I'll ride with Seth."

"Uh... sure." Kendra said. "Cool with me." She turned to Brady. "Cool with you?"

Brady actually looked nervous. "Well... uh... why not?" I had to stop myself from laughing as he followed Kendra over to her truck.

"Erin." Seth said, shaking his head. "You're just gonna keep pushing the two of them, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. Until either Brady stops being chicken and takes charge or Kendra stops being stupid. Whichever comes first."

"Well, let's get going." Seth said, walking over to the passenger's side of his car. He opened the door for me. "After you."

"Thank you very much, good sir." I said, smiling as I climbed in my seat.

Seth shut the door and then climbed into his own seat. "And we're off." he said, shutting his own door and putting the key in the ignition.

It was just like we were back in Forks. I'd never left. We'd never been apart. Maybe I could handle the whole distance thing as long as I had days like this to look forward to all the time.

"You're awfully quiet." Seth said to me after a couple minutes. "Something wrong?"

"Nope." I said, smiling at him. "Everything's absolutely perfect."

**I really hope you guys like this chapter. I'm on Spring Break so I actually might get to update a lot. We'll see.**


	18. Say Goodbye To My Heart Tonight

"_I've been waiting for so long, now I've finally found someone to stand by me. We saw the writing on the wall as we felt this magical fantasy. Now with passion in our eyes there's no way we could disguise it secretly. So we take each other's hand 'cause we seem to understand the urgency." - from Jennifer Warnes 'I've Had the Time of My Life'_

Seth's POV

"Brady stop whining and get your butt on that horse before I hit you upside the head with... with... that bucket over there!" Two things had happened since we'd arrived at Kendra's barn and saddled up two horses: Brady announced that he's terrified of horses and Erin, who really wanted him to sit on the back of a horse with Kendra, started shouting random threats at him in desperation.

"You'll really be okay, Brady." Kendra said sweetly. "Trust me. If you wrap your arms around my middle you won't fall off and you're already wearing protective headgear. It's safe and Buckwheat's a really good horse. He's the sweetest little thing." Hmm. Did someone really like Brady or what?

"You promise?" Brady asked, eyeing the stool Kendra had stood on to swing her leg over the horse's back.

"Cross my heart." She drew an X over her heart.

Brady climbed on the stool and placed his hands on Buckwheat's side. He threw his leg over his back and sat down with a quiet _thump_. He wrapped his arms tightly around Kendra, his face screwed up in real terror. Brady was not faking just to get Kendra's attention. Well, that was a first. "O-okay. I'm on the h-horse." he said shakily.

Kendra laughed. "All right then. We're just gonna ride around the ring in here since it's too cold outside for the horses." She pulled Buckwheat's reins and he turned towards the riding ring.

"Come on, Seth." Erin said, turning her own horse. I was sitting right behind her, holding onto her just like Brady was holding onto Kendra. "Atta girl, Star." Star threw her head back a bit and snorted in response to Erin's praise.

I leaned into Erin, a little bit nervous myself. I hadn't been on a horse since I was about six and it was one of those ponies that you pay a dollar to ride around in a circle for five minutes at the fair.

"This a good pace, Brady?" Kendra asked, turning her head so she could look at him over her shoulder. "It's just a nice, easy canter. Not too fast for you?"

Brady shook his head. "No, this is... good. Kind of... fun actually." That made Kendra smile.

"I'll never forget the first time I got on a horse." Erin said, laughing at the very thought.

Kendra shook her head, grinning. "You were more scared than Brady. You were holding onto me so tight I couldn't breathe."

"I meant by myself, thank you very much." Erin retorted.

Kendra shook her head again. "Oh, yeah. That time was much better."

"Hey, that was half your fault."

"What happened?" I asked, curious to know.

"Well, Erin here wanted to put the saddle on Casper herself." Kendra began, grinning from ear to ear. "She insisted so I showed her how to do it on my own horse, Cornflower."

Erin chuckled. "I did everything absolutely perfect. I was so proud of myself. Kendra gave my handiwork a little inspection and then we started riding."

"We just got out of the barn door," Kendra took over. "when I heard Erin fall off Casper."

"I didn't fall." Erin interjected. She was cracking a smile. "I slid off into gravel. Well... the saddle slid actually and I just slid with it. It was loose. Really loose."

Kendra was laughing hard by this point. "I'd forgotten that Casper would puff up when you put the saddle on him. Soon as I finished inspectin' he let go of the breath he'd been holding to make himself puff out. That made the saddle loose so Erin slid."

"Hey... I'll have you remember that once we got the saddle fixed your dad said I was a natural rider." Erin finished with pride.

Brady, Kendra, Erin, and I started cracking up with laughter. I could picture the whole thing in my mind. Little overconfident eight year old Erin sliding off a horse into gravel with a surprised look on her face. Priceless.

"Hey, you guys wanna listen to some music?" Kendra asked after we'd stopped laughing. "Dad's got a CD player hooked up to a speaker system in here. Doesn't spook the horses if it's not too loud."

"Sure." we all said in unison.

"Yo, Bill!" Kendra called out to one of the stable hands. "The second CD, please."

"No prob, Kenni." he called, running off somewhere.

"Kenni?" Brady asked.

"Daddy calls me that sometimes." Kendra explained. "Other people do too. They hear him saying it and think it's okay. I don't mind but I kinda wished Dad was the only one who did that. Not as special as it used to be."

Suddenly, music filled the barn. I recognized the song immediately as 'Animal' by Neon Trees. As soon as the singing started, Kendra joined in.

"_Here we go again. _

_I kinda wanna be more than friends_

_So take it easy on me. _

_I'm afraid you're never satisfied."_

"What are you doing?" I asked, laughing. She wasn't bad. She was really good. However, she was bobbing her head and looking utterly ridiculous.

"Singing." she replied.

"_Here we go again._

_We're sick like animals_

_We play pretend._

_You're just a cannibal_

_And I'm afraid I won't get out alive._

_I won't sleep tonight."_

Erin joined in this time. I love her and everything but... her singing's not the best. It's okay but it's not what you'd call... good.

"_Oh oh_

_I want some more._

_Oh oh_

_What are you waiting for?_

_Take a bite of my heart tonight."_

Brady had joined in. He was a worse singer than Erin. Well, if you can't beat them, join them. Right? I jumped in.

"_Oh oh_

_I want some more._

_Oh oh_

_What are you waiting for?_

_What are you waiting for?_

_Say goodbye to my heart tonight."_

And we did that for the rest of the day. Four friends, two horses, three tone-deaf losers, and one spectacular singer. It was nice. Perfect way to spend the day with the most amazing girl in the world. Oh, and Brady and Kendra too.

**Did you guys like that? Good. Ok, so there have been a few questions. I would like to announce that the events in 'Solar Flare', 'Wildfire', 'Like Lightning', and a story I've yet to post entitled 'Sparks' all coincide. Hope that clears things up. Well, until next update.**


	19. Ding Dong, The Wicked Witch Is Dead!

"_I'll write you just to let you know that I'm all right. Can't say I'm sad to see you go 'cause I'm not. Well, I'm not." -from Paramore 'Here We Go Again'_

Erin's POV

"Oh, no." Alee groaned. It was Monday and we were back at school. I was missing Seth already. Our time together was so very short. "It's the Wicked Witch of the West. She's coming this way." I turned my head a bit and, sure enough, Jamie was walking to our table.

Jay, who was finally back in school, sighed. "Where's a house when you need it?"

I chuckled and held up my bottle of water. "This works too." Everyone busted out laughing. However, when Jamie got to where we were sitting, the laughing stopped and everyone looked awkwardly at their food.

"Well, hello there Erin." Jamie grinned. It was one of those 'I'm about to get my way' grins. Well, whatever she wanted, she wasn't getting it from me.

"Hi." I replied cordially.

"Look," she began, ignoring everyone else at the table. "I was just wondering if your friend Brady had a girlfriend?" Of course. Figured.

"No." I replied. "But he does like someone." I shot Kendra a meaningful look but she didn't pay the slightest bit of attention. She was turned towards the table Jamie had just come from, watching Drew. Poor girl.

Jamie smirked. "That someone wouldn't happen to be me would it?"

"No."

She frowned. "Well, we'll see about that."

No. We wouldn't. "Anything else?" I asked.

"When are you gonna give up that Seth guy?" she asked, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Sure, he's hot. But he's also in another state. You don't actually believe that he's not seeing other girls behind your back, do you?"

"Actually, I kind of do." I answered smugly. "See, we have this thing called trust. Ever heard of it?"

Avery let out a sputtering cough and Leslie, patting him on the back, gave me a small smirk that was almost completely invisible.

Jamie frowned and looked at her perfectly manicured nails. "Look, don't be stupid. Dylan likes you. You should date him. You can continue dating Seth if you want. It's whatever. I just don't want you to get hurt when you go back for a surprise visit or something and he's got some girl over. Dylan's like insurance. He'll be there for you if anything like that should happen."

Okay. That was the end. Friendship terminated. "Jamie, could you just get lost?" I asked, glaring at her. "I'm not cheating on Seth and I'm also not going to be your friend anymore. Not like we ever really were friends to begin with"

"What?" she almost shouted. "After everything I've ever done for you? I let you live at my house when your parents died. I've been there for you since we were babies."

That actually caused me to laugh. "Your parents let me stay. Not you. And I seem to recall that you avoided me like the plague. You hardly called when I left. And, as I said, we were never really friends. I hung out with Dylan. You only wanted to be my friend when it was convenient for you."

"Well, if that's the way you feel, fine!" she yelled. "Hang out with these losers! See if I care!" She stormed back over to her table.

"Ugh." I groaned. "No good two-faced… slut."

Everyone stared at me in utter shock. I don't think anyone had ever stood up to Jamie before. They'd all been to afraid to do anything. Suddenly, the whole cafeteria burst into applause. Well, except for Jamie's table. They just gave me death stares. Even Drew. But not Dylan. He just looked shocked.

"I think they all want you to be our queen or something." Nick said, looking around the cafeteria.

"All hail the mighty Erin Morgan!" Avery joked.

"Vanquisher of the evil dragon." Leslie added.

"All hail Erin!" everyone else at the table said in unison.

"I'm really glad you finally stood up to her." Kendra said, smiling. She looked back over to Jamie's table and watched Drew. She looked sad.

"You need to forget about him." I told her. "Just break up with him."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You just wouldn't understand."

"He's not abusing you is he?" I was starting to worry.

"No." Kendra said. "I just… I really like him, Erin."

"Well, if he really liked you he wouldn't be over there." I told her.

Kendra went silent. She knew I was right. I just hoped that she would do what she needed to do. She was too good of a person to have to go through that kind of stupid bull-crap. It just wasn't right. Especially because she had Brady. Although, she didn't quite know that yet.

The rest of lunch was pretty silent. We were all so worried for Kendra. Why was she putting herself through so much pain? Why was breaking up with Drew so hard for her? It made all of us rather sad. How could we help her if she wouldn't listen to us?

**Hi everyone. Sorry about the hiatus. I actually did things this summer. It was great. Then I had to get settled into college and junk. But I'm back. With a slight case of writer's block. This chapter was pretty much me trying to work through it. Not my best work. I'll get back into it soon. Promise.**


	20. Tell Dr Seth All About It, Brady

"_No one is as lucky as us. We're not at the end but we already won. No, no. No one is as lucky as us. Is as lucky as us. Is as lucky as us."-from Paramore 'Where the Lines Overlap'_

Seth's POV

"You did what?" I asked, chuckling. Erin had just told me she'd finally had enough of her 'friend' Jamie and told her off in front of the entire cafeteria. Everyone actually cheered for her and applauded her.

"Ok." I said, laughing. "I'll talk to you later then. See you in two horribly long and painful weeks." I paused, listening to her voice. "I love you too. Bye." I hung up the phone and lie down on my bed. I was so tired. I hadn't gotten any sleep. I'd been on patrol all night and then at school all day.

I was just about to take a nice long, two week nap, when my door was suddenly thrust open and Brady barged in rather loudly. "Seth, I love her." he said immediately. Not even a hello? Rude.

I lifted up my head. "Kendra? No, duh. She's your imprint."

"Yeah." Brady said, pulling out my desk chair, turning it around, and then sitting down. "But I've never said it before. And, for the record, I'd love her without the stupid imprint."

"That may be." I told him. "But she'd end up like all of the other girls you've ever 'loved', you know?"

Brady made an odd noise. "No. I've never said I loved anyone before. Not even close. Remember? I thought that stuff was dumb. I didn't even love Erin." Oh, so we were bringing that up again? "I mean, yeah. I found her attractive. And, yeah. I thought she was nice and kind of liked her in that way. But I didn't love her and the bulk of the things I did were purely to piss you off. And I only asked her out to prove to you all that imprinting was a bunch of bull on the part of the imprintee."

I sighed heavily. "So, are you telling Kendra yet or what?"

"No." Brady said sharply. "One, she's got a boyfriend who-"

"Who doesn't actually like her and is cheating on her." I reminded him. "Erin seems to think that if you just told her, she'd break up with him and everyone would be happy and whatnot."

Brady shook his head. "She's never gonna know." he said firmly. "Not just about the werewolf/imprinting thing. I don't want her to know I like her that much. I kind of just want to fall into things. Let her decide what happens. I'm giving her a choice, something none of you gave your imprintees because you outright told them."

I placed my hands over my eyes and groaned. Perhaps Brady was right. Perhaps his was the best way to go about something as big as all of this. You know, go out with them and then tell the secret if necessary. Might have been helpful to Collin. Him and Scout had had a messy beginning.

"Dude," Brady said, sounding a bit worried. "No. I didn't mean you… like… _forced _Erin into anything. No. She did have her own choice. She chose no and then changed her mind. I just meant like… Sam and Jake and Paul and Jared and even Collin. They kind of just announced everything upfront and the girls felt stuck. I mean… I assume. I'd probably feel that way if I were them."

I sighed heavily. "I know what you meant. But if you wanna just 'fall into things' with Kendra, you gotta get the ball rolling. Otherwise she's just gonna stick with that guy because she'll start to think that's all she's ever gonna get. You know what I mean?"

Brady nodded. "Yeah. I get what you're saying. You're saying you've turned into a woman." He burst into laughter.

I picked a shoe up off the floor and chucked it at him. It hit him squarely in the forehead. It was my turn to laugh at his expense even though I knew it hadn't actually hurt him or anything. It was still hilarious.

"I am not a woman." I told him. "I just know what they think. I grew up with Leah. Then you have my mom. Most of my family is female."

"I know." Brady said, rubbing his forehead. "I was just messing with you. Jeez. Didn't have to get so worked up about it, Mr. Sensitive."

"Right." I said, yawning. "So, what will you be doing for the next two weeks, huh?" I was so exhausted. I kind of wanted Brady to leave, but I wasn't going to say anything.

Brady bit his lip. "Oh, you know. Play some basketball with Newt, do some homework, take a run up to Astoria and visit with Kendra for the day. Nothing special."

I sat up. "Wait, what? You're going to visit her? I thought we agreed on going down there every two weeks so as to save up gas money."

"I said I was running." Brady pointed out. Before I could say anything, he started up again. "Look, before we left she wanted me to come by and help her with something. I told her I would. So, I'm going to."

"Did she say what she needed help with?" I asked. Hmm. Sounded like someone had an ulterior motive to me.

"Nope." Brady said. Then he frowned. "Well, she said it was some sort of secret project. I'm supposed to meet her at her house and then we're going somewhere. Heck if I know."

I laughed. "Brady, I think you've got a date."

Brady shrugged. "If I do, then I do. If I don't, well… I'll just have to keep at it for a bit."

I could not wait to talk to Erin again so we could discuss these recent developments. Would she be pleased or what?

**Hi. Rather short chapter for after such a long wait. Sorry. Just finished my finals. I have a whole month off. Maybe I'll get back into fanfic. We'll see.**


	21. Note

**Hey guys. I know I said I was going to get back into fanfic and then I didn't. Well… I am working on a new story. Which means this one is on hiatus. Reason being is that the new story has lots of events that coincide with this one and I want to get the new one caught up. So, don't leave a review on this chapter. Just wait a week or so for me to put up 'Sparks' which is my new fanfic for Brady. Be back soon.**


End file.
